Salem council denies line-item to mayor

Photo

Jerry Wolford

STAFF REPORT

SALEM — City council on Tuesday denied Mayor Jerry Wolford the line item he wanted in the city budget to pay for a racing event next year.

With Councilwoman Rita O’Leary absent, council voted 3-3 on the issue.

Councilman Earl A. Schory II said that because the president of council was absent, there was no one to cast a vote to break the tie.

Schory, a lawyer who opposed the line item, told his fellow council members that creating a fund should have been a council decision, not the mayor’s.

Councilman Dave Nestic said during the meeting that there were rumors of possible litigation over the changes.

The controversy arose after the mayor made a recent handshake deal with Dan Swindell, owner of Quaker City Raceway, to run a racing event at the track next June.

The deal came as a surprise to Corey Ward of Austintown, who has run a racing event at the raceway north of the city for four years.

Wolford said he wanted to start collecting payments now to help pay for city expenses, such as overtime, during the event that is set for next June 10-13.

He did not comment after the meeting.