Arrogance is the hallmark of anti-fracking campaign

To understand the mentality of the individuals who refuse to take “no” for an answer in their campaign to ban fracking and other related gas and oil activities in the city of Youngstown, consider this comment:

“There’s no one protecting our air and property rights, so the community members have to do it.”

Thus said Susie Beiersdorfer, one of the mainstays of the committee that has again placed the anti-fracking Community Bill of Rights charter amendment on the Nov. 4 general election ballot in Youngstown.

On three previous occasions, city residents rejected the anti-fracking charter amendment and the arguments put forth by Beiersdorfer, and her husband, Ray, a public employee. But they and other self-styled protectors of the people of Youngstown who are thought of as environmental bumpkins refuse to give the voters the respect they deserve.

Let Susie Beiersdorfer’s opinion of city residents be your guide as you attempt to understand what’s driving the anti-fracking proponents.

“There’s no one protecting our air and property rights …”

No one. Not the mayor, not members of city council, not community leaders, not business leaders, not the clergy — and not even the U.S. and Ohio environmental protection agencies.

In the view of the Community Bill of Rights committee, the city of Youngstown is a cauldron of pollution, and only a select few know what’s best for residents who are in harm’s way.

Indeed, Ray Beiersdorfer revealed an important element of the anti-fracking charter amendment when he said that the proposal gives citizens the right “to allow what businesses can come into the city.”

“Businesses are here for an opportunity,” he said. “If you stop businesses affiliated with [fracking], you’ll stop a lot of opportunities.”

While there isn’t any fracking taking place in Youngstown, there are companies whose products are being used in the booming oil and gas industry in America.

A prime example is Vallourec Star, which is producing steel pipe for oil and gas exploration. The company’s French parent, Vallourec, headquartered in a suburb of Paris, has invested more than $1 billion (that’s private money) in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities on a site straddling Youngstown and Girard.

It is instructive that the average salary of a Vallourec Star employee is $50,000 — with full benefits — which makes the company one of the top income-taxpayers in the city.

The tax revenue from private-sector employees goes to support government and other public- sector entities, such as Youngstown State University, which employs Ray Beiersdorfer.

So, when he says city residents should pick and choose the businesses that locate in Youngstown, would Vallourec Star be one of his rejects?

The anti-fracking charter amendment was a ridiculous, self-aggrandizing idea when it was first proposed, and it is still that — and more. It has become a display of arrogance on the part of the proponents, who believe they are the only ones who know what’s best for the city.

They don’t — and on three occasions, the voters of the city told them so.

We urge Youngstown residents to not only again reject the anti-fracking charter amendment, but to do so by a bigger margin than that recorded in the May primary election.

shrink city council

But while we are strongly opposed to the Community Bill of Rights, we are just as strongly in favor of a charter amendment that would reduce the number of wards in the city to five from the current seven.

There’s no justification to cling to a legislative branch that was designed to serve a community of more than 100,000 people. Today’s population is in the mid-60,000 range and is dropping.

Reducing the number of wards by two will not be a hardship on the lawmakers, nor will it deprive city residents of services they expect from government.

A shrinking, financially-challenged city cannot afford the status quo.

yes to other CHARTER AMENDMENTS

We also urge voters to say “yes” to a proposal to combine the economic-development and community-development offices, which will result in cost-savings and bring greater efficiency to the important task of job-creation and neighborhood revitalization.

Finally, there’s a charter amendment to make the superintendent of code enforcement and blight remediation an unclassified position, hired by and serving at the pleasure of the mayor. We support this endeavor.

The Vindicator urges voters to say “no” to the anti-fracking proposal and “yes” to the reduction in the number of wards, the combination of economic development and community development offices and the classification change for the superintendent of code enforcement and blight remediation.