Towns react to lost grant
Girard seeks answers over failed applicationBy RON SELAK JR. Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - Girard Mayor James Melfi thinks his city deserves to know why the effort among communities dotting the Mahoning River to win a $32.4 million federal grant for neighborhood revitalization failed.
In fact, he wants it on paper.
''I would think Youngstown owes us a written explanation,'' Melfi said. ''We partnered with them. Maybe going on our own we would have had no chance at all, but I would like to have a shot.''
Melfi was speaking of the application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding. The money used to improve rundown neighborhoods and spur economic development was sought by in a joint effort by nine communities in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, with Youngstown's Community Development department taking the lead.
The application was shut out from any of the $2 billion available from the federal government.
The communities involved in a federal grant application to revitalize blighted neighborhoods were Warren, Niles, Girard, McDonald, Newton Falls, Youngstown, Campbell, Struthers and Lowellville. They were seeking $32.4. million.
Immediately following the Jan. 14 announcement, community officials reacted with outrage and confusion. Now participants are chalking it up to a learning experience after meeting with HUD. They said smaller cities such as Youngstown don't have the resources that other, larger communities have to submit these applications.
Still, some are pointing fingers, while others say criticism is unwarranted, given how competitive the process was.
Youngstown Councilman DeMaine Kitchen, part of a Mahoning Valley contingent who met with HUD officials last week, has said that Youngstown Community Development Director Bill D'Avignon should be punished for the failure. D'Avignon left holes in the application that helped sink it, he says.
Messages seeking comment was left with Kitchen Friday and Saturday.
HUD scored the application deficient in several areas, including management structure and past accomplishments. Last week, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams HUD officials believed the application conveyed weaknesses in some of the approaches toward revitalization.
Essentially, that means HUD did not believe the project could be carried out even if money was awarded.
D'Avignon has said he is being unfairly criticized for the failure, a point former Campbell Mayor Jack Dill says he agrees with, especially since $15 billion in requests were made for an available $2 billion.
''We got out hopes up, especially when other people looked at it, saying it was a fantastic application because these nine communities went together jointly.
''But stop to think about the amount of money available and all the communities that applied,'' said Dill, mayor when the application was submitted. ''It really was a longshot to get this money, anyway. It's wrong to throw darts at this kid.''
McDonald Mayor Glenn Holmes and Newton Falls City Manager Jack Haney said communities submitted information to Youngstown for the application. Holmes said the village wasn't really consulted during the procedure and Haney said there was a series of meetings involving the communities to give direction to the application.
Holmes said he isn't blaming D'Avignon, saying it's a learning experience, and Haney said he has no issues surrounding the submittal.
''I still thinks it's a shame it didn't get funded,'' Haney said.
A message seeking comment was left with Williams on Saturday. Messages seeking comment were also left with officials from the participating communities.
The money could be used to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed or vacant property, along with demolition, homebuyer financing and other uses. Of the 482 applications, 79 were funded.
Melfi said the funding would have helped the city plan beyond the spring, which is about when funding from the first round of NSP funding needs to be spent. In the first round, the city received about $350,000 and is partnering with Trumbull County to use the funding.
''It's a timing issue,'' Melfi said. ''This first round we have to have all the addresses in place for demolition by March, that is very difficult to do. What happens if a house becomes vacant after March and becomes and eyesore? In order to address that, we're going to have to use city funds.''
|
ImDrone
|
|
|---|---|
|
01-25-10 5:15 PM
|
Or, assemble a staff of competent people who know how to write grant requests instead of uneducated friends and family members, lol. *¿*
|
|
pahootaman
|
|
|
01-25-10 1:42 PM
|
What did we learn here. HIRE. GRANT. WRITERS. Possibly somebody that went to school for it or has a professional background in it. Don't have your own staff do this kind of stuff. I'll repeat. HIRE. A. GRANT. WRITER.
|
|
marsh29
|
|
|
01-25-10 11:42 AM
|
Haha thats funny Green Jobs are a joke..They are only temp jobs and there is no proof that these green jobs will grow. Also I see a polution problem with green jobs.. what are you going to do with the bad batteries that no longer are good to use. AKA Toxic waste
|
|
jonathon
|
|
|
01-24-10 10:24 PM
|
The bullseye must of been in the wrong place, and it's a learning experience. You would think that these high dollar politicians could come up with a better spin than this.
|
|
computerwhiz
|
|
|
01-24-10 6:26 PM
|
Dear Mayor Melfi please read the following written explanation 'They said NO"
|
|
zipcityboy
|
|
|
01-24-10 4:49 PM
|
The problem is gross incompetence in City Hall, and not just Youngstown. How's that $1 billion V&M deal going, Melfi?
|
|
nativio289
|
|
|
01-24-10 2:13 PM
|
heh. And maybe our community development director should have taken point on this rather than Y-town's. It only took Mike Keyes three years to build a skate park! Results like that are what matter!
|
|
nativio289
|
|
|
01-24-10 2:11 PM
|
And it is funny that while the Trib is inverviewing the mayor of Girard for god's sakes, the vindy is actually doing the stories on this 'controversy' that matter. Joke paper. JOKE! And you may feel free to print that in your 'from the boards' feature on the editorial page this week.
|
|
nativio289
|
|
|
01-24-10 2:10 PM
|
Wow, reader, so Trumbull County residents have to read the Vindicator to find out about issues important to Trumbull County residents??? Wotta' town! And come on, Gump, dislike Ryan all you want, but don't disparage socialists by painting him as one! That health care bill would have been the greatest giveaway to insurance corporations in history and is nothing that any real socialist would have supported. Just ask Bernie Sanders.
|
|
jtoday
|
|
|
01-24-10 12:19 PM
|
Mayor Melfi, what did Girard do to assist in the application? Come to think of it keep your hands off. You almost singlehandedly caused the V&M project to crash and burn.
|
|
positivechange
|
|
|
01-24-10 10:54 AM
|
We need to make a real effort to clean up around all schools and churches.That means move the bull dozers into these areas immediately. Where are the bull dozers now? Are the bulldozers in the areas that need the real clean up? The schools,churches and businesses need to be a priority.
|
|
JoeCoolio
|
|
|
01-24-10 10:24 AM
|
Relax, marsh...green jobs are coming...Capon Ryan secured them in Copnhagen...
|
|
marsh29
|
|
|
01-24-10 9:59 AM
|
hmm what good would it do for Girard... Nothing waste of money you spruce the neighborhood up just to see it trashed the following year. why dont you use the money creating jobs and put the murderers in jail on a chain gang to clean up the neighborhood
|
|
JoeCoolio
|
|
|
01-24-10 7:41 AM
|
A few days ago, Timbery Ryan said soething like, if our application didn't hit the bullseye, then the bullseye was in the wrong place. You standing by that comment, Timmy? Were we on the right shooting range?
|
|
JoeCoolio
|
|
|
01-24-10 7:41 AM
|
A few days ago, Timbery Ryan said soething like, if our application didn't hit the bullseye, then the bullseye was in the wrong place. You standing by that comment, Timmy? Were we on the right shooting range?
|
|
JoeCoolio
|
|
|
01-24-10 7:33 AM
|
Again, ROTFL.MAO...everyone's all ticked off, holding press conferences, etc, etc. Then, we find out the accountability lies right here with one of "our own", and all of the sudden, "it was a long shot" anyway. These people couldn't run a garage sale!
|
|
OldManGrump2
|
|
|
01-24-10 6:22 AM
|
Youngstown Community Development Director Bill D'Avignon should not be punished - he should be FIRED!!!! He didn't bother to fill out the paperwork correctly according to what I read in the Vindy according to HUD. This is just another example of why regionalization doesn't work. Had each city gone after their own pot of these funds, some of them would have surely gotten some of the HUD money. Meanwhile, where was missing liberal socialist DemoCROOK Timmy Ryan in all of this? He didn't bother to have his staff review the HUD application before it was submitted? Now he writes a letter to HUD? He has to go in the next election - again what has he ever done for the valley but provide PORK and now he can't even get that done right. He's as useless to the valley as a teat on a boar hog.
|
|
OldManGrump2
|
|
|
01-24-10 6:21 AM
|
Youngstown Community Development Director Bill D'Avignon should not be punushed - he should be FIRED!!!! He didn't bother to fill out the paperwork correctly according to what I read in the Vindy according to HUD. This is just another example of why regionalization doesn't work. Had each city gone after their own pot of these funds, some of them would have surely gotten some of the HUD money. Meanwhile, where was missing liberal socialist DemoCROOK Timmy Ryan in all of this? He didn't bother to have his staff review the HUD application before it was submitted? Now he writes a letter to HUD? He has to go in the next election - again what has he ever done for the valley but provide PORK and now he can't even get that done right. He's as useless to the valley as a teat on a boar hog.
|
|
reader
|
|
|
01-24-10 4:55 AM
|
If Girard Mayor James Melfi wants to know exactly why this grant didn't make it, he should read Saturday's Vindy. They, at least, had a political correspondent call HUD and ask for details. There were a lot of flaws in the Valley's grant, and as we can see in hindsight, costly ones at that. Now if he wants it in writing, maybe he will have to call HUD himself. This is just another example of some of the leadership in the Valley being in positions where they are way over their heads.
|
|
Sanson
|
|
|
01-24-10 2:33 AM
|
This dependence on the federal government in order to get things done has got to stop. What if instead of sending our tax dollars to Washington, we kept the money here and took care of the problem ourselves? What do you say Tim Ryan?
|
|
foxtrot
|
|
|
01-24-10 2:16 AM
|
Demolition is an excellent use of city funds, because the private sector is doing the work. The private sector is several times more efficient than the public sector.
|
