Youngstown’s new mayor not new to politics in city

These are challenging times for just about every community in Ohio, given the roiling national economy, the huge cuts in state funding for local governments and the intense competition for the limited number of new jobs being created. The challenge is especially stark in older cities, which are experiencing huge population losses, deteriorating neighborhoods, intractable crime and stagnant revenue.

Youngstown is such a city, which is why the swearing in Tuesday of veteran officeholder Charles Sammarone as mayor is reason for optimism. It would have been a travesty had someone with no experience in city government and exposure to politics replaced Jay Williams, who resigned last week to join the Obama administration. Williams had been mayor since 2006.

Of all the problems confronting the new administration, crime, especially homicides, remains at the top of the list — just as it was during Williams’ tenure, and the tenure of his predecessor, George M. McKelvey. In other words, getting a handle on this issue, which has shaken the very foundation of Youngstown, has proved to be difficult.

Hence, the position of police chief becomes all the more important. Jimmy Hughes has led the police department for the past six years, and while he came from within the ranks, he did not perform at the level that a crime-ridden city requires.

Hughes is retiring, which means Mayor Sammarone will get to appoint his top cop. It is important to note that the former president of city council, former head of the water department, former city councilman and retired school teacher will not be running for a full four-year term when he completes Williams’ term in 2013.

Given that, we reluctantly concede that there isn’t time for Sammarone to conduct a full-scale national search for a chief, and that it would be difficult to persuade someone with experience in urban policing to come to Youngstown for a two-year stint.

Sammarone’s best bet, therefore, is to look within the department. There are some police officers who have the leadership skills and the law enforcement experience to take on the monumental challenge of changing Youngstown’s reputation as a crime-ridden community.

Beyond that issue, the new mayor seems to be aware that he cannot be a caretaker, even though he won’t be on the job for a full four-year term.

Dilapidated houses

There are just too many challenges confronting Youngstown for the mayor to be passive. He must deal with the ever present problem of dilapidated houses and neighborhoods in decline, and the persistent problem of high unemployment, especially among young black males. And, he must pursue the implementation of Youngstown 2010, the blueprint for the city’s future.

There are some encouraging signs, such as the construction of a $650 million steel pipe-making plant and the growth of high-technology companies at the Youngstown Business Incubator.

But there’s also the danger that the city could lose $500,000 in tax revenue if the U.S. postal service goes through with its plans to shut down the distribution and processing operation at the central post office.

These are challenging times for Youngstown, but we’re confident that Sammarone has the knowledge, background and the personality to confront them.