Anthony Kobak

[iwasthere]

westsider as Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know the rest of the story". Williams did not pull the 2010 out of his hat but this plan came to existence due to a public servant named, John Swierz having foresight to bring ytown up to the 21st c. with other ytown community activists assisting Jay Williams to bring this plan to the public eye. If, Swierz ran for mayor again I would vote for him again.

[rusty river]

Thanks for clearing the air John, and for your continued service to the community.

[john r. swierz]

 
   Since my name is mentioned in these threads I want to set the record straight....
   When I ran for the 7th Ward Council seat in 1995, part of my platform was that we needed a new
   Comprehensive Plan,the last plan was established in 1951.  After I was elected, I set out to make
   that happen. I went to the National League of Cities Conference in 1996 and brought back plans from
   several cities throughtout the nation.  At first, I received some resistance from the administration,
   so I went to my colleagues and they supported me. At that point the administration soften on the idea.
   Over the next 3 years council earmarked $375,000 from Community Development Block Grant monies.
   Other monies were secured from Foundations and other sources. Apparently, Mayor McKelvey did not
   want  to oversee this project and turned it over to then CDA director Jay Williams. I think Mr. Williams did
   a great job bringing it to completion. I served on most of the committees that dealt with the plan.To the
   writer who said that I should have been mayor, I truly thank you.  I know that I would have done a good
   job. Currently, I  support Mayor Jay Williams and I know that he has done a great job in his 1st term.  At
   this point in my life I am grateful to the citizens of the 7th Ward who put me back in  office and hopefully
   when my current term ends, I will get a 2nd term.  I hope this clears up the situation.

[iwasthere]

westsider, jay williams is given too much credit for 2010 plan. it was sweirz that bought this plan back from a convention several years ago during his two term tenure. swierz gave the plan to McKevley and King George gave it to jay williams to implement this plan. westsider you have to give credit to credit where it is due that is to swierz not williams. swierz should had been elected mayor due to his years of service as a city employee and council rep. in 2005 instead of williams but that is water over the dam.

[rusty river]

Sure, from the Mahoning County GIS website, the property ID #'s are: 53-68-261, 53-68-262, 53-68-263, and 53-68-264.

Westsider I sent you a personal message about these properties.

[northside lurker]

westsider, do you know what the addresses or parcel ID #s are for those lots?

Sure, from the Mahoning County GIS website, the property ID #'s are: 53-68-261, 53-68-262, 53-68-263, and 53-68-264.

iwasthere, it doesn't make much sense to assume that any roadblocks hindering the 2010 plan were a result of the Williams administration, considering Jay helped write the plan himself.
Any roadblocks encountered were and are a result of the old school politics and archaic mindset that still lingers rather strongly in the city. But things are changing, and more progress was made during the 8 years Kobak served as City Planner than in the previous 30. And he'd be quick to say that his role in Youngstown's continued renaissance was a small one.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[john r. swierz]

     Jay, I whole heartily agree with your post. I always found Anthony to be professional and know-
     ledgable.  He will be missed!

[jay]

I'm very sorry to learn Anthony is leaving.  He's a very good employee.

I hope losing young talented employees isn't a trend.  The city also lost PK recently.

[northside lurker]

It's Kobak.  At a recent meeting, he told us his wife accepted a job offer (that was made to her repeatedly) in California.  Because they want at least one parent at home with the kids, he will be a stay-at-home dad.

I don't think he was happy that the city wouldn't follow through on some of the 2010 items that have come up, though.  For example, the city was supposed to acquire the vacant lots at the corner of S. Lakeview and Mayfield, to turn that area into a city park, per the 2010 plan. But the city hasn't, yet. (if the city would have acquired the land, we could have applied for a neighborhood success grant to buy the equipment and build the park.)

We're all sorry to see him go, but wish him the best of luck.

[iwasthere]

I am trying find out if anthony kobec ytown city planner quit his job due to the many roadblocks that he has incurred with Williams adminstration.  If, anyone has their ear to the ground around ytown city hall post any correct information to this story. Kobec is too good of a friend to ytown's future development as a major player to bring ytown to the 21st c.