43
Mayoral races in Struthers, Niles are getting combative
On the side
What party?: The yard signs for Anita Davis, a Youngstown 6th Ward council candidate, contain a typo; a huge typo.
At the bottom, it reads “ENDORSED DEMOCART.” Mistakes happen, but incorrectly spelling your political affiliation is something a candidate and campaign committee should catch before handing out the signs. At the very least, Davis should replace the signs.
Excessive attention: Some articles on ex-Gov. Ted Strickland’s 2016 U.S. Senate run have given what I consider to be an excessive amount of attention to his age — he’s 73.
When I brought up the subject to him, Strickland, a Democrat, agreed.
“I don’t mind people mentioning my age; I’m not ashamed of it,” he said. “But some people seem to think it’s my primary characteristic. I’ve been a congressman. I’ve been a psychologist. I’ve been a governor. I have a PhD. I’ve done a lot of things that I think are more significant to my qualifications than my age.”
Niles Mayor Ralph Infante and Danny Thomas Jr., a candidate for Struthers mayor, are getting some push back for statements they made to The Vindicator during their endorsement interviews.
For Thomas, who faces Ronald Carcelli in the May 5 Democratic primary, it’s two words “administrative assistant” that resulted in Struthers Mayor Terry Stocker, who isn’t seeking re-election, calling me.
Thomas said he served in that capacity for four years when Dan Mamula was mayor. Stocker beat Mamula in the 2007 Democratic primary for mayor and is serving his second and final four-year term.
Stocker said no such position exists and Thomas was actually the city’s part-time recycling and litter control manager. That job paid about $10 an hour for up to 30 hours a week.
Thomas said while that was his official title, he did the actual work of an administrative assistant and more. That included property research on vacant land, preparing the city’s storm water management, and assisting the Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity.
“My duties far outweighed the title,” Thomas said. “I did a lot more than litter. If [Stocker] wants to quibble about the title then so be it, but I’m very proud of the work I did with the city and I will do more.”
Mamula said he “definitely would consider [Thomas] as my administrative assistant. He did far more than manage litter and recycling.”
Stocker said he contacted me about Thomas’ actual job title because “I don’t want the people to be misled. I don’t want people to think this person had this experience.”
Thomas had criticized Stocker in his endorsement interview saying the city’s economic development has been “stagnant” under the current mayor “with no growth and no prospects for growth.”
When asked about those comments, Stocker said, “I took offense to some of the comments. I didn’t appreciate it, but I understand it’s the political season. To say under my administration the city is stagnant, eh, I don’t think so.”
In Infante’s endorsement interview, he answered questions about Niles’ financial problems, including the state putting the city in fiscal emergency, a steadily declining general fund that the state auditor projects to be a $2.4 million deficit this year, and the questionable hires of two employees, one convicted of theft in office and another accused of the same crime.
Infante said the treasurer hired the two employees, and “if the [city’s financial] books were reconciled, we wouldn’t have those problems. I don’t have control over the auditor and treasurer.”
In an email, Niles Treasurer Bob Swauger wrote that he didn’t hire either employee, and Infante hired the woman facing the theft in office charge. Swauger provided a link from a local TV news interview in which Infante said he hired that particular worker.
Also, Infante told The Vindicator that the general-fund decline started in 2010 because of low interest rates related to the economy.
Swauger wrote the low interest rates contributed to less money, but the decline in the cash balances “were a larger factor. As the amount of money available to invest declined and interest rates drops, the resulting factor of both is lower return on investments.”
Swauger ended the email writing: “I do take responsibility for my office and I am working with the state auditors to correct some issues. I do not ‘pass the buck’ as others in this city have in past, however, I can not stand here and let the facts be construed that the entire financial mess of the city is the fault of one or two people.”
Infante faces Thomas Scarnecchia in the Democratic primary.