Youngstown council authorizes hire firm to map redistricted wards

YOUNGSTOWN

A charter-amendment proposal to reduce the number of wards in Youngstown from seven to five isn’t on the ballot, but city council authorized the hiring of a firm to draw a map with two less wards.

City council voted 6-1 on Wednesday to authorize the board of control to enter into a contract for about $7,500 with Triad Research Group of Westlake.

Mayor John A. McNally, chairman of the board of control, refused to have the board hire Triad in May for the work.

With a great deal of assistance from the Mahoning County Board of Elections, at no cost, council approved a redistricting map of the wards last month to make the population in the seven more equitable.

A group of citizens collected enough signatures to get a charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot tying the number of council members to population. It would cut the number of council members from seven to five.

It first has to get on the ballot. The board of elections last week refused to certify the amendment because city council submitted two nearly identical documents — the one from the citizens group and the other a city council ordinance — on the same issue.

In other business, council decided not to vote on a contract with its 74-member wastewater union.

Read the complete story in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.