Obama officials to lend an ear to city

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A group from Youngstown, including Mayor Jay Williams, will meet Thursday in Washington, D.C., with officials from the Barack Obama administration to discuss ways the federal government can assist the city.

Officials from Detroit, Cleveland and Flint, Mich., will also participate in the meetings to talk about the same issue.

The four cities were chosen because of their dependence on the automotive industry, Williams said.

However, Youngstown is the only city of the four that doesn’t have an automobile plant located in it. General Motors has a plant in nearby Lordstown that is one of the Mahoning Valley’s largest employers.

Also, the Lordstown plant is among the few auto success stories in the nation. The plant is adding a third shift of 1,200 workers by the end of June, and hired 1,050 people in October 2009 for its second shift. The complex will be the home of the Chevrolet Cruze, GM’s new small car, in June.

When fully staffed in three months the plant will employ about 5,000.

Despite that, Williams and the others from Youngstown aren’t turning down the invitation.

The meetings will also include discussions on reusing vacant properties, economic development opportunities and how the federal government can best help the cities, Williams said.

The mayor said he expects a major announcement from the federal government next month that would provide “significant financial resources” to cities, such as Youngstown, for economic development, planning and demolition.

“It would be for a number of things we’ve been working on to transform the city,” Williams said.

Williams said he doesn’t expect to leave Washington, D.C., after Thursday’s meeting with a check in his hand.

Others from Youngstown planning to attend Thursday’s meeting include Bill D’Avignon, the city’s community development agency director; Presley Gillespie, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.; and Ian Beniston, the development corporation’s assistant director.

“The purpose of the meeting is to talk to federal policy makers,” Gillespie said.

Officials with the U.S. departments of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency will be at the meeting, Williams said.

Local officials met Jan. 20 with officials from HUD and the White House Office of Urban Affairs to discuss the rejection of a $32.4 million proposal for federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds that would have been used to demolish and rehabilitate houses in nine Valley communities.

HUD rejected the plan, spearheaded by Youngstown, because the city’s application “failed to show they had the capacity and ability to carry out the proposal.”