Politicos do well at sites in the Mahoning Valley

Local venues are picking up some of the costs of hosting political rallies.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University didn’t charge the Barack Obama campaign anything for the use of its Beeghly Center for a rally that drew 6,400 people to campus Monday.

It’s standard procedure not to charge any nonprofit organization for use of university facilities, provided that the event falls within normal working hours, said George McCloud, special assistant to the president for university advancement.

That doesn’t mean the Obama campaign didn’t pick up some expenses for the rally.

It provided the university with liability insurance coverage, paid outside vendors and union labor rates to bring in risers, build a stage and provide a sound system, among other things, said campaign spokesman Ben Labolt.

YSU did provide 20 campus police officers for security purposes and had about a dozen other campus people from various departments involved in facilitating the event, said Ron Cole, YSU spokesman. Classes at Beeghly were canceled during the day, disrupting some schedules.

“We’re a public institution,” Cole said, explaining that campus facilities are not there only to benefit the students but the community as well.

YSU provided a public service by encouraging public discourse on an important issue, McCloud said. Allowing use of the facility is an example of YSU’s engagement with the community, he said, adding that he hopes the university gets calls for facility use from the Hillary Clinton and John McCain campaigns as well.

“We owe it to the community to step up,” he said.

The normal fee for a for-profit rental of Beeghly Center ranges from $500 to $5,000, depending upon extent of building use, McCloud said.

Hillary Clinton’s use of Chaney High School’s facilities Tuesday evening came with a rental cost as well as liability insurance provided by the campaign, said Anthony DeNiro, assistant superintendent of school building affairs.

He didn’t have an exact cost available Tuesday, explaining that the fee is on an hourly basis of about $32 per hour with a minimum of three hours required to cover custodial expenses. He didn’t know yet how long the building would be in use. The campaign was also providing tarps to protect the gymnasium floor, he said.

“We’re happy to help pick up the cost to run a facility,” said Clinton campaign spokesman Isaac Baker.

The district was picking up the cost of running two school bus shuttles to transport people from parking lots on South Belle Vista Avenue to the school, DeNiro said. That was a community service issue related to the inclement weather to ensure that people got from the designated parking areas to the school without having to walk on slippery roads and sidewalks, he said.

gwin@vindy.com