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Trustees decide not to endorse Ludt
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Township trustees decided not to vote on endorsing David Ludt for Mahoning County commissioner.
The board moved during Monday’s meeting to omit the agenda item endorsing the incumbent commissioner.
Board Chairman David l said the board decided before the meeting not to pursue the endorsement. As elected township officials, it was out of their realm of responsibility, he said.
“We thought our personal viewpoints shouldn’t be brought in as township issues,” Ditzler said. “It was a bad precedent to start in the first place.”
Ludt faces Youngstown Councilwoman Carol Remidio-Righetti in the May 4 election to retain his seat.
Ditzler said board members were free to publicly express individual support for any candidate they wish.
Trustee Lisa Oles said no Austintown board has publicly endorsed an election candidate. Oles said she personally supports Ludt’s re-election.
“This board and previous boards strive to do what’s right for Austintown,” she said. “Please do your homework when you vote for commissioner. [Ludt] does have the best interest of all townships at heart.”
Trustee Jim Davis also voiced his support for Ludt during Monday’s meeting.
“You’re going to be voting for commissioner, so look at the people on your ballot,” Davis said.
“[Ludt] has served as a trustee and a county commissioner. He is very qualified,” Davis said.
Oles said her main concern, if Remidio-Righetti ousts Ludt from office, will be her position on actions the city has previously attempted to take toward the township.
“Our board and previous boards have worked tirelessly to fend off talk of annexation threats by the city of Youngstown,” she said.
“In addition, we were adamantly opposed to JEDDS [Joint Economic Development Districts] that would place an income tax on individuals currently working in Austintown.”
Remidio-Righetti, contacted Monday night by The Vindicator, said she never has been asked personally by Oles if she supported annexation or JEDDS while on council.
Remidio-Righetti, who is endorsed in this election by the Mahoning County Democratic Party, said she and Diztler previously attended a meeting in Youngstown on those issues where she voiced her opposition.
“For her to bring up the thing about the water and the annexation really upsets me,” she said.
“I said, ‘I don’t believe in it, and I don’t want to do this.’ I don’t support the annexation of those properties for the waterlines.”