Mayor McNally’s criminal record may not hinder his re-election bid

Being convicted of four criminal counts directly related to serving as a public official usually means a person doesn’t have a prayer of being re-elected. In many cases, the person either doesn’t run for office again or is barred from doing so based on the convictions.

But it’s fair to state that Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally is the likely favorite heading into this year’s election for his office.

McNally, a Democrat, pleaded guilty in February 2016 to 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.

The convictions stem from his time as a Mahoning County commissioner when the county, over his objections, purchased Oakhill Renaissance Place.

McNally 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, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.

The convictions relate to McNally illegally faxing the county’s confidential offer July 13, 2006, to buy Oakhill to attorneys at Ulmer & Berne, a Cleveland law firm that represented Anthony Cafaro Sr., former head of his family-owned Cafaro Co. shopping-center business.

While he expects opponents to target him over the Oak- hill case, McNally is focused on the accomplishments of his administration during his first term.

“Over the past three years, we’ve done some great things in the city of Youngstown,” he said. “When I first ran, I talked about getting back to the basics: fighting crime, protecting property, fighting blight, creating economic development. I think we’ve done a great job, not only myself, but my department heads and my staff on a daily basis.”

Feb. 1 is the deadline to file for the May 2 Democratic primary.

Likely challengers include Jamael Tito Brown, the ex-council president who lost the 2013 Democratic primary to McNally by only 142 votes, and ex-Councilwoman Janet Tarpley of the 6th Ward.

We won’t know for sure until they file and the Mahoning County Board of Elections certifies the candidates.

One of the early interesting aspects of this campaign will be when the Youngstown members of the county Democratic Party’s central and executive committees meet to endorse a mayoral candidate.

When McNally pleaded guilty, party Chairman David Betras urged him to resign and to not seek re-election. McNally ignored both suggestions.

McNally will be favored to win the party’s endorsement. He easily beat Brown four years ago 50-16.

McNally has a longstanding relationship with several committee members, so despite his convictions many will support him.

Despite Brown’s overwhelming loss among committee members in 2013, remember that he only lost the primary by 142 votes so the endorsement doesn’t always mean a lot in elections.

If Republicans field a candidate in the election, that person doesn’t have a chance of winning in November in the heavily-Democratic city.

We’ve had one independent elected mayor in about 90 years – Jay Williams in 2005 – but that doesn’t mean a nonparty candidate couldn’t make a solid bid against McNally in the November general election.

But it will be an uphill climb.

The only other primary-election race of note in Mahoning County this year is for Youngstown Municipal Court judge.

Robert Milich can’t run for re-election because of the state’s age-restriction law on judges, so the seat is open.

Anthony Sertick Jr., the city court magistrate, is definitely in the race.

Carla Baldwin, an assistant county prosecutor who became a county juvenile court magistrate Thursday, was circulating petitions. It isn’t known if she’ll seek the municipal court seat now that she has a new job.

Others likely will come forward.

But the rest of the primary races in Mahoning County are going to be dull.

Youngstown Council President Charles Sammarone and Clerk of Courts Sarah Brown-Clark are running for re-election. They don’t have any opposition at this point, and no one with a chance of giving them a serious challenge is expected to step forward.

In Struthers, the seven council members, council president and treasurer are up for grabs. There may be one or two challengers to the four ward members, and typically there are four candidates running for the three at-large races.

The only other positions in the primary in the county are four seats on the Poland Village Council. While the spots are partisan, usually most or all of the candidates don’t run as Democrats and Republicans. Instead, they run as independent.