YOUNGSTOWN — Though all seven members of Youngstown City Council are seeking re-election this year, only three face challengers in the May 2 Democratic primary.

Council members Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward; Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward; Mike Ray, D-4th Ward; and Basia Adamczak, D-7th Ward; will move on to the Nov. 7 election without facing a challenger in the primary.

Oliver had an opponent who filed in the Democratic primary, but the Mahoning County Board of Elections did not certify Dionne Dowdy Lacy to the ballot.

Oliver will face Republican Tracy Randall in the general election and Adamczak is being challenged by Republican Josie Lyon in that same election. A Republican was last elected to city council in 2007.

Also, May 1, the day before the primary, is the filing deadline for independent candidates. An independent hasn’t been elected to council in Youngstown since 1995.

In the 2nd Ward’s Democratic primary, incumbent Councilman Jimmy Hughes, a retired city police chief, again faces Ra’Cole Taltoan, owner and partner of Rockbrook Business Services. In the 2017 Democratic primary, Hughes beat Taltoan 457 to 162.

In the 5th Ward’s Democratic primary, Pat Kelly, director of security for the Youngstown school district who was appointed to fill the vacant seat Jan. 7 by Democratic central committee members in that ward, is being challenged by Carie Watson, a teacher at Youngstown Community School. Watson and Kelly were among the candidates who sought the appointment.

The 6th Ward primary pits incumbent Anita Davis, a retired Youngstown police detective sergeant, against Janet Tarpley, a former two-term councilwoman who worked for more than 30 years at Mahoning County Juvenile Court before her 2018 retirement including as director of parent engagement.

Tarpley couldn’t run for a third term in 2015 because the city’s term limits law at the time prohibited it. The law was repealed in 2018 and then reinstated in 2022 to take effect with this year’s election.

6TH WARD

Davis, who is seeking her third four-year term, said her top priorities include public safety, growing the economy and quality of life concerns.

“I will continue to use my community, legislative and police experience to restore the peace and quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Davis said. “During my time on council, I came to realize that it’s the small and unheralded steps that impacted (people) on a day-to-day, individual basis while big challenges demanded a consistent long-term effort for sweeping successful change.”

Regarding public safety, Davis said as chairwoman of council’s safety committee, she works closely with the police chief to reduce crime, hire and retain officers and use new technology.

“I am fully committed to funding our safety forces as well as other city departments to serve the needs of Youngstown and ensure public safety can carry out their mission,” Davis said.

Davis said the city needs to expand business along the corridors such as the growth that a portion of Glenwood Avenue has experienced.

Davis has committed $250,000 of her $2 million American Rescue Plan allocation to support continuing development of Glenwood Avenue and budgeted $1 million in ARP funds for Market Street.

Tarpley said she would work to build senior housing, focus on young people getting into the building trades and business development in the Uptown area.

As a councilwoman, Tarpley said she would be “an advocate and a spokesperson for those who are having problems or issues with city services.”

Tarpley wants to work on building new housing units in the ward, which includes most of the city’s South Side, as well as help “seniors with services that they need and (are) not aware of that can help them with their homes.”

She also wants to put “young people in trade programs that will help to build the city’s middle class in the 6th Ward.”

5TH WARD

Kelly said his top priorities are focusing on police and fire services, improving road and sidewalks and making sure his ward, which includes the city’s lower West Side, is treated fairly.

While he’s the current director of security for the city school district, Kelly is a retired Youngstown police officer and former Campbell police chief.

“Obviously with my background, (safety services are) my top concern with the entire city, not just the 5th Ward,” he said.

That includes working with the ward’s community police officer to give “security assessments to residents’ property to make them safe in their own home,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he is focused on repairing sidewalks on Mahoning Avenue and resurfacing roads in his ward.

Kelly said it’s important for his constituents to have a voice when decisions in the city are made.

“I have had and will continue to have town hall meetings so I can hear the problems of my fellow 5th Ward citizens and take back to the departments and get the problems taken care of,” he said.

Watson said public safety, regaining a “sense of community” and helping neighbors in need are her top goals.

“That sense of community has diminished, and I would like to see it thrive once again,” she said. “I think we can get there by having conversations with one another and together looking for solutions to combat the issues,” she said.

Regarding public safety, Watson said, “We have some elderly residents who need our help. Whether it be resources or information, we as a community need to be the first line of defense. We can’t help anyone if we do not know there is an issue. If we are noticing crime, we need to be making phone calls to first our neighbors, then the police and also the councilperson needs to be made aware. We can’t wait until it is out of hand.”

In order to beautify the city, Watson said people have to be willing to help neighbors who are struggling.

“When there is a change to the condition of the home, our neighbor may need our help in some way,” she said. “Maybe they have fallen ill and are unable to cut the grass at this time.”

2ND WARD

Hughes said quality-of-life issues and public safety remain his top priorities in his ward that includes most of the city’s East Side.

“The most important issue to my constituents is seeing a better and a safer neighborhood,” he said. “I want us to do better. I want to see how we can have a better city. My residents want to be safe in their homes. Neighborhood safety is very important. That’s why I pushed for community police. We should also be using auxiliary and reserves.”

With Hughes’ experience in law enforcement, he said one of his biggest concerns is “many people in my ward are targets of pretextual stops.” A pretextual stop allows police to pull over a person in a car for minor violations.

“It concerns me and my constituents when an innocent person is followed by the police,” he said. “It’s happening in the city.”

Hughes said he wants to help those in his ward with flooding issues as well as resurfacing roads and repairing sidewalks.

Hughes wants a grocery store in his ward and for something to be done with the property that used to house the McGuffey Plaza, which has been vacant for almost a decade.

Taltoan sold the last building at the plaza to the Western Reserve Port Authority, which has talked of redeveloping the property. Redeveloping the plaza is one of her top goals if elected to council.

“We need answers as to what’s going on with the plaza,” she said. “We ask different people in government about it, and we haven’t received good answers. It needs to be addressed.”

Taltoan said she was also running again for council because “we have to ensure we have access to healthy foods. Having a seat in a legislative position can help with that as well as increasing economic development and affordable housing.”

The city, she said, “has the funds to make a difference and make an impact. I don’t see where that is happening in the 2nd Ward.”

The city’s ARP funds should be “spent on human capital,” such as creating affordable housing for residents and increasing access to youth sports, Taltoan said.

dskolnick@vindy.com