Staff photo / David Skolnick Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown listens to a question about the implementation of a downtown zero-tolerance policy. Behind him, from left, is police Lt. Gerard Slattery; Jason Small, a senior assistant city law director; Law Director Lori Shells Simmons; Health Commissioner Erin Bishop; and police Chief Carl Davis.

YOUNGSTOWN — With police saying they’ve seen a small increase in underage drinking and other alcohol violations downtown, the city is implementing a “zero-tolerance” policy in the area.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and members of his administration announced the policy Wednesday.

Brown said the crackdown would focus on underage drinking, loitering and panhandling, and nuisance abatement.

“Our strategic plan is to ensure the safety and well-being of all who travel downtown,” he said.

Brown added: “We have put too much at stake for a few bad actors to ruin our downtown.”

Both Brown and police Chief Carl Davis specifically mentioned The Social and the Circle Hookah and Bar as two downtown trouble spots.

Davis said the two bars have been “identified as focal points for disruptive gatherings characterized by unruly conduct that includes fights, underage drinking and many other unlawful activities.”

Davis said he’s been forced to reassign police officers to downtown because of the issues.

“This unruly behavior hinders our ability to maintain optimal police coverage in other parts of our city,” he said.

Davis said: “We are confident these measures will restore peace and security to our downtown.”

Police Lt. Gerard Slattery, head of the vice and neighborhood response unit, said the department has seen “a slight uptick” in underage drinking and open container violations downtown.

Slattery said the department will have up to 16 officers on duty downtown between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Brown initially said not all 16 would be downtown, but Slattery said the department was “reallocating some of our resources to change their hours. Different units, the special units, are going to be out during those times so it’s approximately 16 officers with a couple of supervisors.”

Slattery added: “That’s the first line of defense. We want to have a welcoming atmosphere down here. We don’t want it to be a police state or anything, but if a problem arises, we’re going to be there to immediately take action and shut it down.”

Brown said: “We still have other calls to make, but our main focus will be the downtown. I don’t think if you’re sitting down here having dinner with your wife and anybody starts panhandling, you will be looking for the other 15 or 16 to help you out. I don’t want to get caught up on the numbers. I want you to understand that this is for the protection of downtown. We may find that 16 is too many, but we may find that that’s not enough. We’ll take all measures to make sure that individuals, when they come down and want to have a good time downtown, they’ll feel safe and they’ll know they’re safe.”

RESPONSES

Ron Singh, owner of Circle Hookah and Bar, said his business is being targeted by the city and the couple of times there’s been underage drinking at his establishment, the violators were removed.

“I don’t know why the city has an issue with us,” he said. “I don’t know what they want from us.”

Singh said the city had the streets surrounding his business closed for a long time for an improvement project and then closed sections of downtown after the Realty Tower explosion – and his business suffered.

“We don’t have any business here, and the city has offered no help,” Singh said. “They’re making it hard for me to run a business.”

Singh said he pays $6,000 a month in rent alone and can’t make money in downtown Youngstown.

“I’m thinking of closing the bar,” he said. “There’s no business. I don’t make money there. There are no people in Youngstown.”

Bob McDowall, an attorney representing The Social, said the bar has been unfairly targeted. The bar’s owner and its landlord are preparing a joint statement in response to the comments from the news conference that will be released shortly, he said.

The Social was shut down Aug. 26, 2021, after the city declared it a nuisance and boarded it up. The city’s complaint in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court at the time contended in the preceding six months that Youngstown police issued several criminal complaints against the bar for serving minors, disorderly conduct by way of intoxication, marijuana possession, weapons charges and fighting or altercations among patrons.

The city dropped the lawsuit after the business lost its liquor license on Dec. 3, 2021. But the bar obtained a liquor license and reopened in July 2022.

Erie Terminal Place, where The Social is located, filed a Nov. 22 lawsuit seeking back rent of more than $10,600. The case was dismissed June 18 after the rent was paid.

Fire Chief Barry Finley said Wednesday that his inspection department would be checking downtown bars to make sure they don’t violate occupancy limits. If bars are over their occupancy limit, the department will empty them and may count heads at the doors.

Brown said: “We put on notice that our office will use all legal resources that we have to ensure that we protect the safety of all who come downtown and all who have invested in our community. We will protect downtown.”

City council failed to pass an anti-loitering law in 2016 after Martin Hume, then the law director, agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio that a proposal from John A. McNally, then the mayor, was too restrictive.

Brown declined Wednesday to discuss that specific issue.

“I don’t want anybody, when I’m sitting having dinner, harassing me asking about quarters and dimes,” he said. “You can talk to the law department about the legal piece of that. I’m looking for the piece of it that the patrons, when they come downtown, that they’re not being harassed. If you’re harassing me, that’s a problem.”

‘NOT A POLITICAL PLOY’

Brown has faced criticism from some downtown business owners about how he handles issues in not only downtown, but in the neighborhoods. They formed Downtown for Derrick in support of Derrick McDowell, owner of the Youngstown Flea, in his campaign for mayor as an independent candidate against Brown, a two-term incumbent Democrat.

Brown said he wasn’t implementing the zero-tolerance policy as a political ploy, and the announcement is “not in response to anybody else.”

Brown said: “I’m still the mayor. I have a job to do. We’ve been working on this and talking about this. Many of you ask about the downtown strategic plan. I have a job to do, and it just happens to be election season.”

McDowell didn’t respond Wednesday to requests for comment.