Land transfer in biennial budget would benefit Valley

With only five days to go until the dawn of the 2018 fiscal year in Ohio, expect a heaping helping of fussing and fighting among state legislators over the contours of the 2018-19 biennial budget in the week ahead.

The blueprint for spending tax revenues over those two years, which faces a Friday deadline for passage, already has unleashed quite a partisan fury in the Statehouse.

Among other targets of contention, Democrats cry out for additional funding to battle the state’s opiate epidemic, oppose plans for deeper cuts in aid to local governments, lambaste what they see as lavish tax breaks for business and lament across-the-board state agency cuts and program eliminations.

State Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, summarizes Democrat opposition succinctly: “I don’t think cutting our way out of the budget deficit is a way to build a stronger Ohio.”

He and others concede, however, that given the overwhelming Republican majority in the Ohio General Assembly, it’s likely that provisions passed last week in the Ohio Senate’s $65 billion budget plan – similar to most adopted by the Ohio House earlier this month – will remain intact in conference committee between the two chambers and in the final adopted version of the budget.

One provision, however, in the Senate version of the budget that should trigger no partisan rancor hits close to home in the Mahoning Valley. It would breathe new and productive life into the properties of the Youngstown Developmental Center, which officially will close at the end of this fiscal year this weekend.

YDC, many will recall, garnered its fair share of headlines two years ago when the state, in another cost-cutting move, announced its closing. At the time, the center that straddles the border of Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Austintown housed 85 residents with severe and profound developmental disabilities who received extensive daily support, services and treatment from a staff of about 270 there.

YDC AS COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER

A community campaign with broad-based support quickly crystalized to appeal to the state to reverse its decision. Though that campaign ultimately failed, another one to keep the site a center of service and assistance for underserved people once YDC closes shows promising signs of success.

The provision added to the Senate’s spending plan would transfer title of the land and properties at YDC from the state to the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board.

We strongly urge conference committee members to keep the transfer in place so that the potential good works on the 30-acre property can continue.

According to Duane Piccirilli, executive director of the county mental health and recovery board, tentative plans call for the facility to serve multiple purposes for clients from throughout the Valley.

Among them include housing people in later levels of recovery, serving adults with developmental disabilities and autism and providing mental-health services and activities to the elderly. Other ideas include providing space for nonprofit and government agencies.

The possibilities are virtually endless, Piccirilli told 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, last week.

“The center, it’s beautiful; it would be a great training facility. ... In the evening, we could open it up for dances maybe for adults with disabilities,” he explained.

The director also vowed to ensure the facility complements its quiet, rural setting well, which means no detox treatment would take place there. That pledge is encouraging, as it would likely stave off any Not-In-My-Backyard opposition.

If and when the provision is adopted, we urge residents who stand to gain from a centrally located community service agency to provide input on how best to put the facility to use. Piccirilli also said he plans a community meeting to gauge interest and uses for the center.

None of that, however, can happen without state legislators ensuring that the land transfer remains intact in the final budget. Schiavoni calls that provision “the one bright spot” for the Valley in the entire biennial spending plan.

We agree that the land swap clearly warrants full legislative approval in order to preserve a vital community asset and, more importantly, to offer care and compassion to some of the Valley’s most vulnerable populations.