YOUNGSTOWN — Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said he can point to tangible accomplishments during his first two terms — including a reduction in crime, fiscal responsibility and neighborhood improvements — while challenger Derrick McDowell said the city’s growth is being stifled by poor decisions and a lack of accountability.

Brown, a Democrat, and McDowell, an independent, face off in the Nov. 4 election for Youngstown mayor.

Frank Bellamy and Cecil Monroe are running as write-in candidates.

“Over the last eight years we’ve demonstrated our leadership and our ability to move Youngstown forward,” Brown said. “Our city is safer, our neighborhoods are healthier and look at our investments.”

But McDowell, owner of the Youngstown Flea and a first-time political candidate, said the city has been plagued by a lack of accountability, which he plans to restore as mayor.

“There is dysfunction in city hall,” he said. “Accountability in city hall is a big problem. I see a problem and I want to fix it.”

McDowell points to Brown’s inability to redevelop the city-owned 20 Federal Place building in the heart of downtown, which has remained empty for three years after two failed attempts to find someone to improve the building. The latest failure forced the return of $24 million in unused state and federal historic tax credits for the building.

McDowell also points to the lengthy delays during the $28.5 million SMART2 (Strategic and Sustainable, Medical and Manufacturing, Academic and Arts, Residential and Recreation and Technology and Training) Network project to several downtown streets that included a $696,435 expenditure for a small autonomous bus, which required a driver under state law, being underused and eventually pulled from the road after just a few months.

“It was a complete waste of money,” McDowell said of the bus.

McDowell said the road work makes the streets more difficult to navigate and the Brown administration’s issues with the project resulted in a company doing no-bid work to Realty Tower and its subsequent explosion.

Regarding 20 Federal Place, Brown said he doesn’t see it as a failure, and after a state grant paid for the removal of asbestos and partial demolition, the building is “a development waiting to happen. That building, right now, is ready for a developer. We got the state government to buy into it. They see it. We’re waiting right now for plans to put it on the market. The city was losing money when we had tenants in that building. It’s a great opportunity to pivot.”

As for reducing the number of downtown street lanes while increasing the width of sidewalks, Brown said the city received a $10.85 million federal grant to pay for the project and had numerous local partners. Without the purchase of the autonomous bus, the city wouldn’t have received the federal grant, Brown said.

“If anyone knows anything about where transportation is going across the nation, they’re doing what is called a road diet,” he said. “The federal government liked our plan and gave us millions of dollars and the road diet reduced lanes of traffic and widened the sidewalks to make downtown more walkable. So that’s just another person who has no idea what this really means when you get federal dollars.”

In response to criticism of Realty Tower, Brown said those responsible for the explosion were the owners of the building.

“We don’t use it as a campaign strategy and shame on anyone who uses it as a campaign strategy,” Brown said. “We had a responsibility to make sure that the safety of the citizens was No. 1 and that’s what we made sure happened. There’s always going to be those who criticize and those who lead. I continue to lead.”

Brown said that safety has been one of his top priorities and when he ran for reelection four years ago, he wanted to reduce the murder rate by 50%. It’s been reduced by 56%, he said.

McDowell pointed to a survey done earlier this year of Youngstown police officers showing low morale, concerns about salaries, and a lack of support by city council and the administration.

Brown said the survey was “an opportunity to see what we can do better,” and the police cadet program — which sees the city pay for police academy tuition for potential officers and then have them work for the city — has been such a success that enrollment is going to double.

Brown said that an $8 million American Rescue Plan fund allocation for housing “will be a catalyst to create greater affordable, quality access to homeownership.”

McDowell said as mayor he would “invest in restoring all 31 of our neighborhoods to ensure that our community’s curb appeal is our most tangible form of visible evidence pointing to real change.”