Shrinking City Council

[iwasthere]

would you debate any city judge on this matter esp kolby in open forum akd when one/all on the many of the valley's talk radio shows? you do not have to appear in person but call in on the radio show when they are on defending their case.

[rusty river]

City judges saw an average of 6,872 cases each in 2007 (most recent year for which this data is available). The statewide average was 12,446 per judge.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/jun/07/judge-city-would-suffer-if-judge-were-eliminated/

I am not qualified to speak extensively on the matter. Any info I post is gathered from the public domain.

[iwasthere]

rusty river what evidence do you have that the city courts are not performing at one-hundred capacity? can you give this information to council and the media? hagan promised to have a public meeting on this matter before he puts this to the ohio general assembly for a vote. rr will you then speak to the public about the info that you have concerning the city cts at this public forum? rr, your postings sounds like you are a city employee or you have little bird that sings to you about the city's daily doings nightly before you drift off to night night land.

[rusty river]

I am in favor of downsizing departments that are over budgeted and over staffed. The municipal courts are one such department. Their productivity is HALF that of their counterparts throughout the state. If the same was true of the Lordstown plant, it would have been shut down. The city's crime rate (which is based on population) is at its lowest level in years.

As I have already said, council was obligated to restructure itself under federal law ten years ago. This did not occur. Council positions should be eliminated.

Everyone else is being forced to do more with less. The public sector should not be exempt from this.

These jobs exist to serve the best interests of the citizens of Youngstown. If the people occupying these jobs do not recognize this, then they have no business being there in the first place. They are public SERVANTS. If their job is no longer necessary to promote the greater good of the city, then it needs to be eliminated so that the funds can go where they are needed.

And for the record, I am NOT on city payroll and do NOT receive city benefits.

[iwasthere]

rusty river did you attend the council meeting the night that judge kolby spoke to the administration, council and the general public? are the city residents ready to downsize ytown cts for the benefit for a few dollars and risk the safety of its citizens? rusty river are in favor of eliminating the jobs that are in the clerk of cts that is what is going to happen if we go down to two judges thus causing more delays in our justice system. i ask kolby, who will take over the jobs that are lost in the clerk of cts. dept? sarah brown-clark and her staff will be on the unemployment lines or are they allow to bump other city hall employees out of jobs due to  job seniority that what happens in the general public when jobs are eliminated? rusty river do you have enough job seniority if the clerk of cts' jobs is eliminated. will you be able to survive the cutbacks in the city hall if the clerk of cts dept. is abolished?

[john r. swierz]

     I would have to research that, but I don't think its as big a number as is being reported.

[Towntalk]

John:

Just how many people out there are there who have reaped the benefit of the city's generosity but have failed to pay back their loans?

[john r. swierz]

       THATS CORRECT!  Its called a enterprise fund  It is funded by the services and its product-WATER

[rusty river]

iwasthere,

You state that the city has no money. If the city has no money, then how is it supposed to build a brand new courthouse? The only reason the city still has three judges is because it was granted an exception by the state. Even with the high crime rate (which is actually at its lowest level in many years) the population of the city does not warrant 3, or even 2, judges. If a metropolitan court system was created with Youngstown, Campbell, and Struthers, then you could justify 3 judges. The city has never denied that its court facilities are deplorable. It has offered the judges space in the city hall annex building, which is already set up as a court facility, but they had refused, stating that they want nothing less than a new building.

I believe the water department is self-sufficient and does not operate out of the general fund. Is that correct Mr. Swierz?

I aggree that we need more patrolmen on the streets. We don't need 3 judges. When you get to that point, everything you are doing is reactionary and does not do anything to alleviate crime. Increasing the number of police officers patroling the streets allows the city to be proactive in preventing crimes from occurring in the first place.

[Towntalk]

What should gripe all of us is the fact that Lou has a tax lien against two other properties:

The Stambaugh Building
The Harshman Building

And is delinquent on two others:

The Erie Terminal Building
Plaza Parking Deck

When he rolled into town he was being praised to the mountain tops.

Praise misplaced it seems.

[iwasthere]

THANK YOU FOR THE CORRECTION. THE CITY AND COUNCIL SHOULD BE ASHAME OF THEMSELVES FOR NOT BACKING UP THE JUDGES IN THEIR BLIGHT FOR A NEW COURTROOM. WHY DID COUNCIL AND THIS ADMINISTRATION DECLINE THE FREE OFFER BY THE MAHONING COUNTY COMMIONSIERS TO HAVE THE MARKET STREET ANNEX BLDG. FOR FREE? IS IT TRUE THAT BILL D'ALIGVON LONG TIME FRIEND JEMMA WAS HIRED IN THE WATER DEPARTMENT WHEN THE CITY DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONIES FOR POLICE OFFICIERS? CAROL RIGHETTI IS THE ONE THAT IS SPREADING THIS RUMUOUR NOT ME. RIGHETTI WANTS TO RAN FOR MAHONING COUNTY COMMIONSIER POSITION. GOD HELP US ALL IF SHE WINS. SHE HAS HARD TIME WITH YTOWN RESIDENTS VOICING THEIR OPINIONS IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS. WILL SHE STOP MAHONING COUNTY RESIDENTS FROM SPEAKING IN A TRUE OPEN FORUM THAT THE MAH CTY COMMSIONIERS HAS FOR THEIR WEEKLY MEETINGS? ARE YOU AND THE OTHER COUNCIL REPS MEETING WITH THE JUDGES LIKE RIGHETTI HAS. SHE WAS IN KOLBY OFFICE DISCUSSING THIS MATTER WITH THE COURTS. ARE YOU AND THE OTHERS DOING THE SAME THING TO ASSURE THE YTOWN RESIDENTS THAT THIS TOWN IS NOT THE TOWN FOR THUGS TO RULE. SWIERZ FOR YOUR INFO I WAS WALKING ON MID AND SOUTH THE OTHER NIGHT WHEN TEN GHETTO KIDS ON BIKES REFUSED TO MOVE OFF THE SIDEWALK UNTO THE STREETS STARTED TO SPIT ON ME. I AM IN THE PROCESS TO BUY A TASER, NEXT TIME THOSE GHETTO PUNKS WILL BE TAUGHT A LESSION BECAUSE COUNCIL REFUSES TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FOR THEIR YTOWN RESIDENTS BUT THEY HAVE MONIES TO SPEND ON THEIR OWN PET PROJECTS.

[john r. swierz]

  iwasthere I know that you were at the meeting but the voting part of your thread is wrong. Council voted to put the resolution to a 2nd reading.  Councilmember Righetti voted yes on the suspension of the rules of council then voted no on the ordinance to expend $25 k for a lawyer for the Judges who are suing the city.

[Why?Town]

iwasthere,

I gave no advice, unsolicited nor otherwise.

You gave two reasons to support downsizing council.

1) You contend that downsizing council will make the reps more accountable.

2) You like the idea of downsizing council because council wants to downsize the safety forces.

I am sure that at least someone living in the city has questions similar to mine about your reasoning. Unless you can prove me wrong please answer to them.

[iwasthere]

why?town if you do not live in the city your opinion on this matter is invalid. too many outsiders give unsolicited advise to those that live in ytown, my  opinion is that why?town move into the city then i will take your opinion to the table until then zip-it. this administration and council wants to downsize the municipal cts from three judges to three until rep. carol nix the resolution by voting against it thus it goes into a second reading. tito brown, chair of the finance committee admitted that he and others on council recieved the resolution sponsored by jay williams that day thus giving little time to read the resolution but they still voted on it. thank god for rep. carol for putting the ytown citizens' safety first then politics as us usual. williams is giving a perception three jobs will be eliminated judge, secretary and bailiff but judge kolby informed the administration, council and the attendees at the council meeting that night if they are successful in eliminating one judge by state of ohio law the city must eliminate the clerk of courts thus eliminating another 20-25 good paying civil service jobs. is the mayor and council willing to put more people in the unemployment line? plus eliminating the housing court too?

[rusty river]

A special election would probably have to be held, although there are members of council who have no business being there.

Don't worry Mr. Swierz, you're considered one of the good guys.