Group succeeds in funds for levy

By David Skolnick

Probate court judge is the most expensive race in Mahoning County.

YOUNGSTOWN — The committee seeking to pass a 0.25 percent sales tax in Mahoning County on the Nov. 4 ballot to expand Western Reserve Transit Authority’s bus service has raised more than four times the amount of money for its effort than it did when the measure was rejected in March.

Between July 1 and Oct. 15, Friends of Transit raised $45,412 to get the message out about the sales tax proposal, according to pre-general election campaign reports that had to be filed with the county board of elections by Thursday.

The measure was rejected by 56.5 percent of voters on the March 4 ballot. The committee only raised $9,834 during the campaign earlier this year.

The Raymond John Wean Foundation of Warren was the committee’s largest contributor: $13,500, more than Friends of Transit raised for the ballot issue that failed in March.

The Committee to Support Youngstown Schools raised $11,195 between July 1 and Oct. 15 to promote the district’s 9.5-mill, 4-year additional levy to raise $5.3 million annually. The committee raised $7,290 for the failed effort to pass the levy in March. The levy received 48.2 percent of the vote in the previous election.

The most expensive candidate race in Mahoning County is for probate judge between the incumbent Mark Belinky of Boardman and Scott Hunter of Canfield, a county court judge.

Judge Belinky received $56,555 in contributions and contributed $24,000 of his own money to his campaign between July 1 and Oct. 15.

Judge Hunter collected $66,518 in contributions between the same time frame.

The two spent about $165,000 between them on the race between July 1 and Oct. 15, including money they had in their respective campaign funds before July 1.

County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains of Boardman, a Democrat, and Marty Yavorcik of Boardman, running as an independent, have spent more than $150,000 combined on their race.

skolnick@vindy.com