Mayor leaning toward term at old job

February 16, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Sammarone

YOUNGSTOWN

Charles Sammarone, appointed mayor in August, remains 99 percent sure he won’t run next year for that post, but says he’s strongly leaning toward seeking another term at his former job of city council president.

Sammarone, a Democrat, pegged the likelihood that he would run for council president at 90 percent when asked Wednesday by The Vindicator about his political future.

That’s if that 1 percent chance of running for mayor in 2013 doesn’t occur, he said.

“I’ve got a lot of experience and I could be helpful to the next mayor,” Sammarone said. “People say I should hang around. That position [of council president], I’ve always liked it.”

As council president for 171/2 years, Sammarone said he offered advice to mayors, who trusted him because he wasn’t looking to replace them.

The questions about his political future were asked because Sammarone is suggesting sweeping changes to the city charter.

Sammarone wants charter amendments on the November ballot to eliminate term limits for elected officeholders and have them run every two years instead of the current four years.

Council members and the mayor can be elected to no more than two consecutive four-year terms.

A two-year term for mayor “is a little easier to accept” than four years, Sammarone said. “But that’s not why I’m recommending it. It’s for accountability.”

Over the years, Sammarone said he’s seen council members who don’t work hard during the first three years of a term and then do the job during an election year. The situation is even worse when they’re lame ducks in their second four-year term, he said.

Sammarone said people are asking him to run for mayor in 2013, when his term expires.

“If I was younger, I’d consider it,” said Sammarone, 69. “I want to spend time with my grandkids. I’m still 99 percent sure I won’t [run]. There’s still that 1 percent.”

Sammarone became mayor last August after Jay Williams, who held the office since January 2006, resigned to join the President Barack Obama administration. The city charter calls for council president to automatically succeed the mayor if the latter resigns.