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Fleas, mice & snakes? Union leader assails conditions at Oakhill
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Oakhill Renaissance Place
A brief history of Oakhill Renaissance Place:
September 1998: Forum Health sells its former Southside Medical Center for $1 to the nonprofit Southside Community Development Corp.
August 1999: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development releases a $1 million grant to convert the former hospital into a multi-tenant facility, which is renamed Oakhill Renaissance Place.
May 2006: SCDC files for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, threatening Oakhill tenants, including the Youngstown Health Department and Mahoning County Coroner’s office, with possible eviction on short notice.
July 2006: The county buys Oakhill in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and keeps the city health department and coroner’s office there, but assumes responsibility for more than $900,000 worth of mortgages and liens, including a $430,000 Ohio Department of Development loan to SCDC and a real estate tax bill of about $400,000.
July 2007: The county moves its department of Job and Family Services from the Cafaro Co.-owned Garland Plaza on the city’s East Side to Oakhill; and the Cafaro Co. loses in the bench trial of its lawsuit to rescind the county’s purchase of Oakhill. The trial judge orders County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino to immediately issue the $75,000 check for the former hospital. Sciortino does so.
November 2008: At the request of county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, the county common pleas judges appoint Dennis P. Will and Paul M. Nick as special prosecutors to probe potential criminal conflict of interest related to the Oakhill purchase.
February to June 2010: A Mahoning County grand jury hears testimony and examines documents concerning Oakhill in at least 10 sessions with the special prosecutors.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
Leaders of unions representing Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services workers at Oakhill Renaissance Place have complained to the county commissioners about what they said are unsatisfactory conditions at Oakhill.
“We were moved from one decrepit building to another decrepit building,” protested Helen Youngblood, president of Local 2001 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents non-supervisory JFS workers.
Youngblood was referring to the department’s 2007 move from Garland Plaza, where the county had rented JFS’ offices for 19 years, to Oakhill.
The county bought Oakhill, which is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2006 for use as a county office complex.
Mold and lack of windows were major complaints at Garland Plaza, but Youngblood complained of mice, fleas and even snakes at Oakhill. She also complained of unclean, inadequate unisex restrooms and inadequate indoor temperature regulation in the former hospital.
Joanne Brickman, a 37-year JFS employee and shop chairwoman for the United Auto Workers, which represents JFS supervisors, complained of high turnover of top management representatives attending labor-management meetings to discuss working conditions at Oakhill.
Youngblood said Thursday that it would have been preferable if county officials had built a new building to house JFS while that department was at Garland.
George J. Tablack, county administrator, said he believes Oakhill complies with all building codes and has proper occupancy permits.
At Tablack’s request, the commissioners voted unanimously to make and forward a transcript of the union officials’ remarks to Ray Jaminet, county architect; Pete Triveri, county facilities director; and Judee Genetin, acting JFS director; and ask all three to make a written response to the commissioners and the unions.
“Management continues and will continue to work with labor on all of these issues,” Tablack said.
Youngblood said it was pure coincidence that she delivered her remarks while an extended grand jury was meeting upstairs in the county courthouse for the 11th time Thursday with special prosecutors probing potential conflicts of interest in connection with the county’s purchase of Oakhill.
“I have reached out to each of you on a number of occasions to no avail, so that’s what brought me here today,” Youngblood told Tablack and the commissioners concerning her complaints about Oakhill.
“This is a beautiful building. It was the best move the county made. I am very pleased with what we’ve done at Oakhill,” Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the county commissioners, said after the meeting.
“Whatever issues that Ms. Youngblood has, we will be happy to address them,” Traficanti concluded.