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Bellas seeks to unseat Brown in Warren 3rd Ward

WARREN — Seeking to unseat incumbent 3rd Ward Councilman John Brown Jr., Republican Nick Bellas wants to reduce the number of rental properties in the city, increase demolitions and address the city’s budgetary problems.

Bellas has served as a part-time police officer in Howland and Bazetta, worked with the Wean Foundation as a facilities and event technician, and currently works on housing issues for Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership.

He said he is concerned about the number of rental properties in the city, noting the percentage has reached somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of the total residential properties in the city.

“Owners should be required to maintain their properties,” Bellas said. “If they cannot, they should not be landlords.”

Stabilizing neighborhoods should be the city’s most important goal in improving its quality of life, according to Bellas.

“I would like to see more housing code enforcement and for the city to pass legislation to make it easier to declare a property a nuisance,” he said.

Bellas also would like the city to take about 1 percent of its budget and use it to make sure unkept and abandoned properties are kept up to attract new owners.

The money could be used to demolish properties that are not on the lists available to Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership.

“With that money, the city can take down 20 to 30 houses per year,” he said.

Bellas also would like the administration and council to take a more conservative approach to the city’s budget.

Combining of services done by both the city and county should be a major goal of the next council, similar to what was done with Warren’s police dispatch and Trumbull 911. Bellas also would like to see Warren Community Development restructured, with the city hiring a private contractor to apply for and manage grants.

Brown, 60, has been a proponent of the city showing fiscal restraint in its spending.

Over the years, Brown has questioned the city’s spending on its downtown parking contract, its maintaining the city’s golf course, its partnership with the Western Reserve Port Authority, and even the size of council itself.

Council and the administration recently agreed to allow the Port Authority to market and sale some previously identified properties now owned by the city, including the SCOPE center and 418 Main Avenue.

“Sometimes it is good to get into partnerships with organizations like the Port Authority,” Brown said. “I voted against that legislation because council had not been told how much the city would have to pay when they facilitated the sale of properties.”

“I thoroughly research legislation that is sent to me,” Brown said. “I just can’t rubber stamp anything.”

He has been a proponent of council passing fewer ordinances by emergency, especially those having economic concerns.

The councilman has represented the city’s 3rd Ward for nearly eight years. He served as the 2nd Ward councilman for two terms.

“My most important responsibilities are representing my constituents through my votes and to do what I can to ensure the upkeep of the ward,” Brown said.

When the city was campaigning for the 0.5-percent income tax increase, Brown pushed to get more of the money collected for road and street repairs, because much of the 3rd Ward does not qualify for state and federal assistance.

“We have residents that feel the ward has not gotten its fair share even though they pay more in taxes than any ward in the city,” Brown said. “We have some streets that have not been paved because they are not in low-to-middle income areas.”

In addition to being a councilman, Brown is the chairman of the Trumbull County MetroParks Board and is on the Trumbull Community Action Program board.

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