Youngstown mayor to toughen housing code enforcement

YOUNGSTOWN

Enforcing the city’s housing code is a top — if not the top — priority for Mayor Charles Sammarone.

He’s been mayor since only Aug. 1, but Sammarone said wherever he goes, he hears complaints about housing code enforcement, and he agrees.

“I’ve been in city government for 28 years, and for 28 years, our code enforcement hasn’t been good,” Sammarone said Monday at a city council housing, community and economic development committee meeting.

That’s going to change very soon, he said.

Sammarone wants to put Maureen O’Neil, the city’s rental property registration administrator, in charge of a new program to focus on housing code enforcement.

O’Neil envisions four full-time inspectors checking houses for code violations.

Read more in Tuesday’s Vindicator and vindy.com