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Youngstown’s ‘town-hall meeting’ was a mixed bag for those attending
Mayor discusses improvements being done this summer
YOUNGSTOWN
Some city residents left what city council called a “town-hall meeting” satisfied while others were frustrated.
Council organized Wednesday’s event at the John J. McDonough Museum of Art on the Youngstown State University campus to have themselves as well as Mayor John A. McNally, various city department heads and officials with organizations that work with the city discuss what they do and how they can provide help to residents.
The speakers addressed the audience of about 100 people for 75 minutes, and then answered written questions for about 30 minutes.
“I thought it was extremely informative,” said Antoinette Carter of the South Side after the meeting. “It sounds like they’re working together to make the city a better place to live. I liked the details on each department. I learned a lot.”
Ruby Sniper Jr. of Cornersburg agreed.
“I thought it was really good,” he said. “They let you know where the city is going. It was very interesting.”
But Lawrence Underwood of the South Side said, “It was redundant. It was nothing new. It’s still the same old stuff I’ve heard for 50 years.”
Bobbe Reynolds of the South Side added: “I thought it was more like a staged presentation. Some of the questions and answers and information were very repetitive.”
Councilwoman Basia Adamczak, D-7th, said at the start of the meeting, “So often we focus on the negative things, but there are many positive things occurring.”
McNally, whose birthday was Wednesday and had “Happy Birthday” sung to him by the crowd, discussed the numerous infrastructure improvements being done in the city this summer.
More than $13 million worth of improvement work to some of the city’s most-traveled streets – including Meridan and McCartney roads and South and Wick avenues – will start in the coming months.
“Be patient, particularly around the university,” he said. “It will be a hassle, but it’s a good thing.”
Also, starting Monday, the city will start its own residential garbage collection program.
“We’re working to make sure it’s a seamless transition,” he said.
Also, Abigail Beniston, the city’s superintendent of code enforcement and blight remediation, said there are 3,900 vacant houses in the city.
While some will be demolished, efforts are being made to fix some up and to hold absentee landlords accountable, she said.
“It’s a large problem we’re working on every day,” Beniston said.
One written question from the audience asked about needing a second new garbage can after the city provides one 96-gallon receptacle to each of its 21,500 residential garbage customers in a few months. An additional bin will cost $50, but the city isn’t charging an additional sanitation fee to empty them, Beniston said.
Another question asked about getting a grocery store on the East Side.
“One primary area we target for a grocery store is the McGuffey Mall,” said T. Sharon Woodberry, director of the city’s community planning and economic development department.
But it’s a business decision by companies and none want to have one there. It’s a problem on the South Side too, she said, as the city unsuccessfully tried to find a supermarket to replace the Bottom Dollar that closed last year on Glenwood Avenue.