Jay Williams... No Longer a Supporter

[AllanY2525]

The current state of Youngstown came about after several decades of economic decline - NONE
of which Jay Williams is responsible for.  To blame him for the deteriorated state of the
City of Youngstown, Ohio is just plain lunacy.

In the time since Jay Williams took office, Youngstown has made more progress in climbing
back up from the "bottom of the barrel" than it has in the prior THREE DECADES preceding
his term as Mayor of Youngstown.  Jay had a LOT to do with the highly acclaimed Youngstown
2010 plan, which started before he was even her Mayor.

Cities all over the world have sent delegates to Youngstown, to see for themselves all of
the things that the city has been doing RIGHT in recent times.  Although I am not as
well informed about the day to day happenings in Youngstown (as I am looking from the
outside in) it appears to me that the city is headed in the right direction, and that things
ARE, [albeit slowly] getting BETTER now.

As to whether or not Jay Williams is better or worse than any other Mayor the city has
ever had - I cannot speak on that issue one way or the other.  I can only voice my
opinions on what I have seen from the outside, as I left Youngstown over 20 years ago.
It is the renaissance of the 2010 plan that convinced me to start a business in
Youngstown - and Jay Williams had a LOT to do with that, whether he is a good mayor
or not.

[ForumManager]

Just for the record...I didn't write the following lines

Jay started this mess, so I am attacking him for it. He brought up the positive state of Wasilla, not me. He should not be attacking her for a good city, when he has a city which is a mess!

For some reason quoting of quoting doesn't work well.

[rusty river]

TAXES-INCOME-SCHOOLS-CRIME, All Good in Wasilla, All BAD IN YOUNGSTOWN!

This is like comparing apples and oranges.
Wasilla is comparable to a  suburb like Canfield, as noted.
High median income.
Isn't it basically suburban Anchorage? 40some miles away?
Alaska's  entire population is  comparable to our tri-county area.
Youngstown was already in its decline  when these cities were starting to boom.
The town of Wasilla was incorporated in 1974.
Apples and oranges.

Jay started this mess, so I am attacking him for it. He brought up the positive state of Wasilla, not me. He should not be attacking her for a good city, when he has a city which is a mess!

Isn't Wasilla referred to as the "Meth capital of Alaska" with 42 meth labs busted this year alone?
Doesn't Wasilla have one of the highest per capita violent- and property-crime rates in Alaska?
Didn't Palin leave the city with a large budget deficit after inheriting a budget surplus?
Didn't Palin raise the city's sales tax by 25%?
Didn't Palin increase Wasilla's government expenditures by 63% during her time as mayor?
Shouldn't this record concern fiscal conservatives?

[ytowner]

TAXES-INCOME-SCHOOLS-CRIME, All Good in Wasilla, All BAD IN YOUNGSTOWN!

This is like comparing apples and oranges.
Wasilla is comparable to a  suburb like Canfield, as noted.
High median income.
Isn't it basically suburban Anchorage? 40some miles away?
Alaska's  entire population is  comparable to our tri-county area.
Youngstown was already in its decline  when these cities were starting to boom.
The town of Wasilla was incorporated in 1974.
Apples and oranges.

Jay started this mess, so I am attacking him for it. He brought up the positive state of Wasilla, not me. He should not be attacking her for a good city, when he has a city which is a mess!

[ForumManager]

TAXES-INCOME-SCHOOLS-CRIME, All Good in Wasilla, All BAD IN YOUNGSTOWN!

This is like comparing apples and oranges.
Wasilla is comparable to a  suburb like Canfield, as noted.
High median income.
Isn't it basically suburban Anchorage? 40some miles away?
Alaska's  entire population is  comparable to our tri-county area.
Youngstown was already in its decline  when these cities were starting to boom.
The town of Wasilla was incorporated in 1974.
Apples and oranges.

[rusty river]

How much of his work as Mayor is he doing from his home?

Is that really an issue here? Probably not nearly as much as Palin did as governor....

[Towntalk]

How much of his work as Mayor is he doing from his home?

[Elmo-Ytown]

Jay Williams thinks it would be fun to be Mayor of Wasilla? Sounds like a plan to me! Let's put him on the next flight!

I would love to compare how much time he spent preparing for that speech to how much time he has spent posting on his blog this year.

I'm not angry that the man doesn't agree with me, he can have whatever opinion he wants, but if he wanted to rip on Palin he could have at least been factual, way to make Youngstown look good Mr. Mayor.

[ytowner]

Cheap shot?

What Mayor Jay said is absolutely true. If McCain and Palin want to count her mayoral experience, then we have every right to question the validity of that experience. Would anybody here consider being Mayor of Canfield as experience to the presidency? I wouldn't.

And I'm not going to blame Jay for making the area look bad. If anyone here thinks Youngstown had a good reputation until the comments yesterday, I think you're gravely misinformed.

Last time I checked she was the Governor of the state of Alaska, not a mayor anymore. Tell me why Jay has any room to talk. He attacked her on the cities strengths, all weaknesses in our city. TAXES-INCOME-SCHOOLS-CRIME, All Good in Wasilla, All BAD IN YOUNGSTOWN!

MAYDAY FOR JAY

[BondQoS]

Cheap shot?

What Mayor Jay said is absolutely true. If McCain and Palin want to count her mayoral experience, then we have every right to question the validity of that experience. Would anybody here consider being Mayor of Canfield as experience to the presidency? I wouldn't.

And I'm not going to blame Jay for making the area look bad. If anyone here thinks Youngstown had a good reputation until the comments yesterday, I think you're gravely misinformed.

[ytowner]

How the Media covered Biden's visit:

FOX - Mayorfight! Youngstown's Boss Disses Palin's Wasilla
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/18/mayorfight-youngstowns-boss-disses-palins-wasilla/

CBS - Ohio Mayor Says Palin Doesn't Live In "Real World"
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/18/politics/fromtheroad/entry4459342.shtml

ABC - Another Biden Surrogate Rips Palin
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/biden-surrogate.html

Thanks Jay. Once again our area's image looks bad.
I certainly appreciate it!

[Towntalk]

How the Media covered Biden's visit:

FOX - Mayorfight! Youngstown's Boss Disses Palin's Wasilla
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/18/mayorfight-youngstowns-boss-disses-palins-wasilla/

CBS - Ohio Mayor Says Palin Doesn't Live In "Real World"
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/18/politics/fromtheroad/entry4459342.shtml

ABC - Another Biden Surrogate Rips Palin
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/biden-surrogate.html

[sfc_oliver]

Did you pick it up? I would have.

[peg_flora]

I went to the McCain rally at the airport, and saw a flag on the ground.

They must really hate America!

[Towntalk]

The very fact that the Democrats allowed Jay to introduce Biden should have told you something going in. And did you notice how Biden stumbled over Capri Cafaro's name? Golly gee bim, what is so difficult about Cafaro, the Valley's biggest name in Democratic politics.

I'll be you that Anthony and J.J. are on a first name basis with Biden, yet he stumbles over Capri's name. Would he have done that to Anthony or J.J.?