McNally files for re-election; expects voters to ignore criminal past

YOUNGSTOWN

Mayor John A. McNally said he expects his opponents to go after him on his criminal convictions, but added voters are more interested in his administration’s accomplishments during his first term running the city.

“I think folks want to talk about how we continue to move forward in a positive way,” McNally, a Democrat, said Thursday as he became the first person in Mahoning County to file nominating petitions for an elected position this year.

The mayor turned in petitions with 142 signatures to the county elections board. He needs 50 of them to be valid to qualify for the Democratic primary May 2.

McNally said he is focused on his administration’s accomplishments during his first term as mayor, including a reduction in crime, an increase in demolitions and more economic-development projects.

McNally pleaded guilty in February 2016 to four misdemeanors: two counts of falsification, and one count each of unlawful use of a telecommunications device and attempted disclosure of confidential information. He was given a year’s probation in March 2016 and allowed to remain in office. He was facing 18 felonies and seven misdemeanors when he took the deal.

He was accused of being part of a criminal enterprise that conspired to illegally stop or impede the relocation of the Mahoning County Job and Family Services Department from a building owned by a subsidiary of the Cafaro Co. to Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center. McNally was a county commissioner when the county, over his objections, purchased Oakhill in 2007.