A tale of two cities uniting

The two cities will work to develop a closer and more productive relationship.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGS-TOWN — Mayor Jay Williams says his city and Cleveland face similar challenges: economic development, public infrastructure, housing, crime and education, among other issues.

“You name it, we’ve got similarities,” Williams said.

Because of that, Cleveland and Youngstown, Northeast Ohio’s first and third most populated cities, respectively, will work to develop a closer and more productive relationship, and to collaborate on issues that impact them, Williams said.

A formal memorandum of understanding will be finalized shortly between the two cities.

Although a document will be developed, it will not be a binding contract that requires either city to do things its officials don’t want to do, Williams said.

“It establishes a relationship between the two and provides an opportunity to work on many things,” he said. “There are some lessons to be learned from each city. There are limitless things we can do.”

Both cities are working on collaborative efforts with their surrounding suburbs, have concerns about predatory lending adversely impacting its housing stock and have deep concerns about education, job creation and crime, Williams said.

Youngstown City Council will vote at its Wednesday meeting to support the creation of the memorandum.

Williams and Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson as well as members of their staffs recently met in Youngstown to discuss a closer relationship between the two cities.

“Obviously, Cleveland is much larger, but there are a lot of challenges we both face,” Williams said. “We’re going to talk about regional cooperation.”

Andrea V. Taylor, Jackson’s press secretary, said she needed to discuss the proposed Youngstown collaborative effort with the Cleveland mayor before she could comment.

If the relationship between the two cities nets positive results, Williams said similar pacts with other cities, such as Akron and Canton, Northeast Ohio’s second and fourth largest cities, respectively, in terms of population, could develop.

Jackson and Williams, elected mayors of their cities in 2005, met a few months ago in Cleveland to discuss ways to improve their cities. That conversation led to a larger meeting in Youngstown and to this proposal, Williams said.

skolnick@vindy.com