Girard mayor reflects on challenges

The city will face its share of challenges in 2008.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

GIRARD — Mayor James Melfi has made history as the only Girard mayor to be elected to serve three four-year terms, but realizes he may very well need more record-breaking moments to maintain the faith of the residents here.

Melfi has been sworn in to serve his third term as mayor of Girard. He said others have served three terms as mayor, but none since the term for mayor was switched to four years.

“In the old days, prior to 1968, there were two-year terms, and some people served three, maybe even four of those, but no mayor in Girard has served three four-year terms,” he said.

Melfi is beginning his 19th year in public service. He served as city treasurer for 11 years before being elected mayor in 2000.

According to Melfi, the continued support of city residents is likely a direct result of his ability to meet and handle crisis situations as well as the way he, and those in his administration and council, have run the city in recent years.

“My years as mayor have been some of the most challenging in the city’s history, certainly since the Great Depression,” the mayor said. “We have had monumental struggles, and through that the citizens understood and saw that I made businesslike decisions in government. Many people saw and respected that.”

According to Melfi one thing residents have looked at is the fact that the city started 2008 in the black for the first time since 1998 with a $300,000 surplus on the books. The city at one time had been as much as $2,450,000 in the red.

Melfi acknowledges that the $300,000 surplus includes about $200,000 in funds held in escrow from fines paid on tickets issued by the stationary speed camera, which is no longer in use. The city cannot use the funds and may have to return the money depending on the outcome of a pending court case.

Melfi, however, said that he believes the city will win the court case and that even if they do not win, the city still started the year more than $100,000 in the black.

“If some people would like to question those figures, then maybe they would like to question whether we were even actually in debt at all,” he said. “Most citizens can relate to the struggles we have had here.”

Melfi said those struggles are likely to continue.

Indalex Aluminum Solutions, the city’s largest employer, has said it may shut its doors sometime this year. Melfi said the company supplies about $300,000, or roughly 9 percent, of the general fund budget to the city annually.

According to Melfi, the city managed to eliminate debt by ending each year with a surplus of about $400,000. The loss of Indalex would mean the city would be left with about $100,000 in funds at the end of each year — something that he said could be wiped out quickly in any emergency.

“That is our major challenge,” he said. “There is no other challenge we face in 2008 that matches that. [Indalex] is our single largest employer.”

There will be other challenges for the mayor and city officials in 2008. The city is trying to purchase, via eminent domain, land along the Mahoning River for recreational purposes. The same land is sought by a landfill company. That matter will go to court in May.

City police officers have been asking for new cruisers. The current cars were purchased in 1996 and average nearly 90,000 miles. The mayor would like to remove the three cars in the poorest condition and replace them with three new cars purchased in cash, but council will have to weigh in on that decision.