43
Youngstown board approves $39,599 grant to a business owned by a former city councilman
YOUNGSTOWN
The board of control, by a 2-1 vote, agreed to give a $39,599 grant to former 1st Ward Councilman Artis Gillam Sr. to help fund a group home he is opening on the city’s East Side.
Law Director Martin Hume voted Thursday against the proposal as he did last month as a member of the Youngstown Initiative Committee.
There are no ethics or conflict-of-interest issues for Gillam to receive the grant even though his wife, Annie, is the current 1st Ward councilwoman, Hume said. But he’s said the city should be held to a “higher standard” in cases such as this.
Finance Director David Bozanich has expressed concerns but voted in favor of the funding as a member of the initiative committee last month and Thursday as a board of control member because of a lack of business investments on the East Side.
Artis Gillam’s Tender Love and Care at 2003 McGuffey Road will create 17 jobs over the next three years.
The facility is a group home for abused, neglected and dependent girls. The location is Gillam’s former contracting business that was heavily damaged in a January 2011 fire.
Mayor John A. McNally, chairman of the board of control, also voted in favor.
“It’s a significant investment on the McGuffey corridor,” he said. “Everyone has complied with state law, and I’m comfortable with the decision.”
The Finance Fund of Columbus provided a $241,348 loan to renovate and expand the McGuffey Road structure into a group home with five bedrooms for up to 10 girls between age 10 and 17. Those staying there will be taught life skills such as cooking and sewing, according to the application for funding.
Also, the board approved a request to pay up to $23,268 to Schindler Elevator, based in Morristown, N.J., to repair one of city hall’s two elevators that has been broken for two weeks.
It should be another two weeks before the work is done, said Sean McKinney, buildings and grounds commissioner.
The other elevator at city hall needed repair work about two years ago and was closed for about a month.
Both of those elevators as well as two others at the attached police station are in dire need of being replaced, McKinney said.
The cost of replacing the four is estimated at a little more than $1 million, he said.
“I don’t think there’s money to replace them,” McNally said. “It’s not in the cards for right now. The money isn’t available. It is going to become something the city will have to look at in its capital budget process in the next year or so.”