Jail deal elusive for Youngstown, Mahoning County

CLEVELAND — Youngstown and Mahoning County officials are still trying to reach an agreement concerning jail operations and funding.

Officials again met behind closed doors today for a 31⁄2-hour mediation session, which was facilitated by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster.

“People are still trying to work something out,” said George J. Tablack, the county administrator, who declined to comment further.

Commissioner John A. McNally IV declined to identify what obstacles remain in the way of an agreement, but he said the county budget will be a key element in any such agreement.

“The most important step is going to be the commissioners’ passing a budget,” McNally said, adding that the commissioners plan to meet Wednesday to adopt a permanent 2010 budget in the county courthouse basement, most likely at 10 a.m.

Wednesday is their deadline to pass that budget. To date, the county has been operating on temporary budgets.

“I would imagine just about every department and elected official’s budget seeing substantial cuts,” McNally said. He added, however, that he does not believe every department will be cut by an even across-the-board percentage.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com