Niles mayor faces a challenger for the first time in 16 years

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

NILES

For the first time in 16 years, Ralph Infante is facing a challenger in his re-election bid for mayor.

First elected as mayor in 1991 and last challenged in the 1999 Democratic primary, Infante will square off in the May primary against Thomas Scarnecchia, a former 14-year councilman at- large who also served as the city’s safety director in the early 1970s.

Scarnecchia, who last held elected office in 2009, said he’s running for the Democratic nomination for mayor because of the city’s financial problems and Infante’s inability to resolve them.

“There was not good stewardship there,” Scarnecchia said. “The mayor is the CEO of the whole city. Everything should go through the mayor. He should know what’s going on. He’s the [person with the] ultimate responsibility.”

The state put the city in fiscal emergency in October 2014 with a projected general-fund deficit of $2.4 million this year. The general fund declined from $8.4 million in 2010 to about $2 million in 2013 as it was used to bail out other funds, according to the state auditor’s office.

Also, a former treasurer’s office employee was found guilty last month of theft in office for taking about $142,000 from the city while another is accused of taking $731 from the city’s billing office.

Infante said he saw the general-fund decline start in 2010 because of low interest rates related to the economy.

The mayor said he didn’t fill 22 vacancies, combined jobs and wants to consolidate the city’s health department with Trumbull County to cut expenses.

The city elects a treasurer and auditor independent of the mayor.

The treasurer hired the two employees, one of whom has since been convicted, Infante said.

“If the books were reconciled, we wouldn’t have those problems,” he said. “I don’t have control over the auditor and treasurer.”

Infante said he’s working on a five-year plan he’ll present to the Niles Financial Planning and Supervision Committee, of which he’s a member, by May 15 to get the city’s general fund balanced.

The state auditor’s special investigation unit took documents and other records from Infante’s office as well as from other departments at city hall.

Infante said he called for the investigation.

“They have the books for 2012 and 2013 completed,” he said. “If there is money missing, we need to go further and examine every department.”

If elected, Scarnecchia said he would “totally tear through every department, every piece of the budget and be prepared.”

Among Scarnecchia’s goals are to concentrate on bringing businesses to all of the city and not just along U.S. Route 422, and to redevelop commercial properties.

During his nearly 24 years as mayor, Infante said he’s improved the city electric department, built a senior center and a fitness center, improved the parks and had sidewalks and curbs built on the city’s main roads.

“I still want more development on 422 and downtown,” he said. “I want to continue to bring new industry in and keep the income tax growing.”