Covelli, Youngstown attorney join port authority board

WARREN

Trumbull County commissioners said their unanimous appointments of businessman Sam Covelli and Atty. David Detec to the Western Reserve Port Authority on Wednesday signal that the tumultuous board is righting its ship.

“These two candidates are what we need right now,” Commissioner Frank Fuda said after the votes. “Things are moving in the right direction.”

Covelli, whose Panera Bread franchise operations are headquartered on East Market Street, will serve on the authority board through 2017. He replaces Scott Lynn, who resigned in May.

Fuda said Covelli made it clear to him that he plans to play an active role on the board. “He told me, ‘I want to contribute [and] I don’t want to be just a member,’” Fuda said.

Detec, principal attorney with the Youngstown firm of Manchester, Newman & Bennett, wrote that he “would be an asset” on the board to help spur economic development.

Detec will complete the unexpired term of James Floyd, which ends Dec. 31. Floyd also had resigned in May.

Read more about the new members in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.