Oliver has earned support of city’s 1st Ward residents

Nowhere in recent years has the city of Youngstown witnessed as much vibrant commercial, business, cultural and residential growth than in its downtown business district and in its Youngstown State University corridor.

As such, responsible voters in the 1st Ward of the city that encompasses downtown and the near South, North and East sides will want to ensure their elected legislative leader over the next four years is seriously committed to ensuring that momentum continues.

In addition, those on the fringes of downtown in the 1st Ward for whom crime, poverty and blight remain all-too-common daily realities will need a leader who has a track record for neighborhood improvement, crime reduction and blight elimination.

Of the two Democratic candidates seeking the council seat, we believe four-year incumbent Julius Oliver best embodies those rugged requirements.

His challenger, political newcomer Bryant Youngblood, a teacher at The Academy for Urban Scholars on the South Side, offers some credible ideas in his candidacy, and he’s supported by some of the city’s and county’s Democratic heavy hitters.

He has some inspiring ideas, such as building quality apartment complexes on many of the city’s vacant lots to help reverse population loss in the city. He also has established himself as a strong advocate for young people in the city.

Youngblood said he laments that 1st Ward residents in particular and city residents in general are not aware of the resources available to help them overcome any number of challenges in their daily lives.

However, Oliver has published, distributed and posted a document titled “How to Get Things Done: Important Contact Information for Youngstown Residents” that presents more than 60 contact numbers for city and other agencies ranging from the police vice squad to the housing department of the Community Development Agency.

ABSTRACTIONS AND GENERALITIES

When meeting with members of The Vindicator’s Editorial Board this month, Youngblood also spoke far too often in abstractions and generalities.

For example, he decries the “disconnect between city leaders and residents” and he believes everyone in city government should share sacrifice to lessen the budget crisis. Yet he acknowledges he has not looked at the municipal budget very closely to determine what areas of sacrifice and cutbacks would be most appropriate.

To his credit, Oliver has assumed an effective take-charge demeanor since his entry to council in 2016. He has played a role in several economic development projects such as the downtown DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel that opened last year, the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater and Riverfront Park, the expansion at manufacturer Fireline Inc. and others.

As he works on such projects, he makes it perfectly clear to would-be developers that politics as usual no longer works in Youngstown – at least not with him. “I’m not going to allow corruption to continue” in the city, he told the Editorial Board.

“I’ve created an environment that’s welcoming to developers. They know they have an honest person to deal with,” he added.

As such, he is a role model to lead the city toward a scandal-free future. He also rises as a strong role model for youth through his mentoring activities, for residents through his commitment to build a first-class dream home for his family on the lower South Side and for would-be business owners through his successful car-washing business in downtown Youngstown.

Oliver also clearly has a leg up over his challenger in experience. He knows the faces and processes of city government. He has developed many strong connections with influential state and federal leaders, and he better understands the short- and long-term challenges confronting the city of Youngstown.

Among his promising goals in a second term are efforts to attract more jobs-producing companies to his ward or to the city without playing roughshod over tax abatement programs and working with youth to inspire them to remain in the city after their graduation.

In both of his roles of citywide lawmaker and 1st Ward constituent liaison, Oliver’s highly credible performance in his first term easily has earned him a second four-year term.

We therefore urge Democratic Party voters in the 1st Ward to renominate him in the May primary.

No Republicans have filed to run in this race. Therefore, barring a strong independent or write-in candidacy, the winner of this primary likely will win the office come November.