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New Youngstown lawmakers are ready to get to work
Four newcomers join Youngstown City Council
YOUNGSTOWN
Despite 2016 being a challenging financial year for Youngstown, members of the new city council say they are ready to get to work.
Of the seven members, three are incumbents – T.J. Rodgers, D-2nd; Nate Pinkard, D-3rd; and Mike Ray, D-4th. The four newcomers, all Democrats, are: Julius Oliver in the 1st Ward, Lauren McNally in the 5th, Anita Davis in the 6th and Basia Adamczak in the 7th. All their terms begin Friday and are for four years.
“Hopefully, we can be a super council that gets things done,” McNally said. “We have challenges ahead of us. Next year will be financially challenging. We want to be a well-informed council working together and be open to all ideas. We can get a lot accomplished together.”
The city’s finance department has said 2016 is going to be a financially challenging year though its officials have not yet determined how much
in cuts will be needed to balance the budget. The budget must be adopted by March 31 under the city charter.
Six of the seven council members were sworn in Wednesday during a ceremony in council chambers on the sixth floor of city hall. Adamczak had a separate ceremony Monday in chambers, but attended Wednesday’s event.
“I want to work with the rest of council, the mayor and the administration to move the city forward,” Adamczak said. “I’m excited to be a part of this team.”
Council will meet at 8 p.m. Monday for an reorganizational meeting to determine who will sit on which committees and who will serve as president pro tempore.
Ray, who previously has served as president pro tempore, said he’s interested in being chosen for the job. The position’s main responsibility is to help council President Charles Sammarone run council meetings.
“We have a great new group,” Ray said. “We want to work together to continue the progress of the city. All of the members I’ve spoken with have expressed a willingness to work not just for their wards, but for the betterment of the city.”
Rodgers said he “sees my role changing. I’ll be in more of a leadership role, helping the new members. I look forward to working with the new members.”
Pinkard said, “I don’t know everything, but I’m more than willing to share what I know. We will continue to work toward developing downtown and the neighborhoods as well as economic development and job growth.”