City committee votes to fund Gillam's East Side project

YOUNGSTOWN — By a 2-1 vote, a city committee agreed to give $39,599 to former 1st Ward Councilman Artis Gillam Sr. for a group home for abused, neglected and dependent girls he is opening next month on the East Side.

When it came time to consider the proposal, Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st, who served on the Youngstown Initiative Committee, left Monday’s meeting and didn’t participate in the vote or the discussions about her husband’s project, called Artis’ Tender Love and Care at 2003 McGuffey Road.

Law Director Martin Hume, who served on the Youngstown Initiative Committee and voted Monday against the funding, said under state law there is no state ethics violation or conflict of interest for Artis Gillam Sr. to receive the grant because his wife serves on the committee and on city council. A spouse is not presumed to have an economic interest in their spouse’s business, he said citing state law.

But Hume said the city should be held to a “higher standard” in cases such as this.

“It’s unseemly for the city to fund the project,” he said.

The board of control still needs to approve the funding.

City Finance Director David Bozanich, an initiative committee member, said he too had concerns. He voted yes because he agreed with T. Sharon Woodberry, a committee member and the city’s director of community planning and economic development, that the East Side lacks investment and this project is worthy of funding.