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City committee votes 2-1 in favor of giving a $39,599 grant to a former councilman’s group home
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.
“The investment outweighs the concerns,” Bozanich said.
Artis Gillam Sr. said the facility should have a group-home license from the state next month to operate, and that’s when it will open. He said he is operating the business end with Louis Wainwright, a residential-treatment director at Belmont Pines child and adolescent psychiatric facility in Liberty, serving as the administrator.
The property used to house Gillam’s contracting business that was heavily damaged in a January 2011 fire.
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.
“We want to make sure the youngsters know they are loved,” he said. “The world is sometimes cruel, but most everyone is not cruel.”
The committee had approved this proposal two years ago at a different location, 610 N. Lakeview Ave. Because it was moved, the committee had to reconsider the proposal.