State of Youngstown: 'Making progress' mayor says

YOUNGSTOWN — While Youngstown faces many challenges, it’s making progress and improvements, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said during his State of the City address.

The speech tonight at the DeYor Performing Arts Center’s Ford Family Recital Hall focused primarily on the positives aspects of Brown’s nearly 15 months as mayor including working to get the city’s finances under control and a $10.85 million federal grant to make significant improvements to Youngstown, particularly the downtown area.

The theme of the speech was “Why not Youngstown?” when it comes to economic development, removing blight, improving education and focusing on making quality of life issues better.

“We know the problems,” he said. “We just need to come together to solve them.”

Brown said the city needs to develop a comprehensive strategic plan that focuses on making substantial improvements to Youngstown.

For the complete story, read Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com