Niles mayor proposes giving money to lure GM workers to live in town

NILES — Mayor Ralph Infante wants to use taxpayers’ money to attract some General Motors employees to the city.

He hopes to attract home buyers from General Motors employees who are transferred to Lords-town to work the third shift. The offer: Buy or build a home in Niles and get a $500 city grant.

The proposal appears in legislation scheduled for a vote at Wednesday morning’s council meeting.

“There are going to be 1,400 working that third shift, and if we can get from 25 to 50 of them to buy a house in Niles, we’ll be way ahead of the game,” Infante said.

GM is adding a third shift to the Lordstown complex in August, hiring about 1,400 people, many of whom will be transfers from other GM plants.

The mayor said there are three basic requirements for applicants.

For more on this story, please see Tuesday’s Vindicator or Vindy.com.