Failure of feds to finance Y’town plan is outrageous

Unlike Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, who was restrained in his reaction to the federal government’s rejection of a grant application from the city, we have no qualms about speaking our minds.

We believe the bureaucrats in Washington blundered when they failed to approve a $15.5 million U.S. Department of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant. The federal dollars, coupled with $5 million from local sources, would have financed a major project in Youngstown’s central business district.

The project involves creation of a corridor linking several major entities that contribute to the city’s economic stability: Youngstown city government, Youngstown State University, Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Eastern Gateway Community College, Youngstown Business Incubator, Western Reserve Transit Authority and Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District.

The participants are committed to working together to make infrastructure improvements. The improvements include general cleanup, lane closures to traffic, construction of hiking/biking trails and enhancement of mass transit.

“The target area is the corridor from Mercy Health to Wick Park and down Fifth Avenue to the Spring Common Bridge,” Michael Hripko, YSU’s associate vice president for research, has said. “We’re calling it Meds to Eds to Tech to Rec.”

It should be clear to any objective observer that this project deserves the money from Washington because of what it represents: public-private sector cooperation for the good of the community.

Indeed, that is what the administration of President Barack Obama has long advocated with regard to economic development initiatives seeking federal funding.

Also significant is the fact that the Department of Transportation grant would have been supplemented with money from the participants and other sources. Such local funding has been a major consideration for bureaucrats in Washington who review grant applications.

Mayor McNally, who said he was “very disappointed” that the project was not funded, has requested a meeting with DOT Secretary Andrew Foxx. Local officials are seeking an explanation for why the application was rejected so they can tailor future requests to requirements.

MORE THAN DISAPPOINTMENT

McNally wrote to Foxx that he’s happy for the applicants who were successful, but “I am deeply disappointed that some level of TIGER could not be found to be awarded for this important public-private partnership project in Youngstown.”

Instead of “deeply disappointed”, McNally should have used the word “outraged” to let Washington know just how upset he and, by extension, the community are over denial of the grant.

“Our application expressed a new community vision for a smaller city with a focus on improving the approximate $600 million of private, local, regional, state and federal investment in the last 10 years which has occurred in” the project corridor, the mayor wrote to Secretary Foxx.

One of the communities that will receive TIGER dollars is Brownsville, Texas. The $10 million will be used to make “substantial” improvements to the metro system and build a pedestrian and bicycle lane on the Queen Isabella Causeway that links Port Isabel to South Padre Island.

Granted, it’s unfair to judge such projects without knowing the details and the history surrounding them, but a cursory glance prompts this question: How can a pedestrian and bicycle lane on a causeway be more important than a corridor that links a major medical center to a major urban university, to a growing community college, to a world-renowned business incubator, to a public transportation system and finally to one of the oldest urban parks in the country?

How, indeed?

We are not reluctant to remind the secretary of transportation that this region’s congressman is Democrat Tim Ryan, who serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee – by virtue of his seniority.

Ryan has worked tirelessly to ensure that the 13th Congressional District, which he represents, gets its fair share of federal dollars.

Indeed, Ryan has been unwavering in his support of the Youngstown Business Incubator and is also one of the masterminds of America Makes, a federally funded initiative in Youngstown that is focused on helping the U.S. grow capabilities and strength in 3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing.

The success and global reputation of the Youngstown project have prompted the Obama administration to establish other such centers across the country.

In a nutshell, each of the entities involved in the TIGER grant application are crucial to the economic future of Youngstown and the region.