Judge Mark A. Hanni of the 7th District Court of Appeals, left, swears in new Campbell Mayor Bill Valentino during a swearing-in ceremony Monday in city hall. An estimated 100 people attended the gathering. Valentino won the seat in the Nov. 4 election after former mayor Bryan Tedesco died April 2.

CAMPBELL — As the city’s new mayor, Bill Valentino says he has every intention of doing his part to move the city forward, but also in the spirit of a longtime close friend and colleague.

“He taught me three things: knock on people’s doors, talk to them and give them your phone number. This is what I did when I was campaigning,” Valentino said, referring to the late Bryan K. Tedesco, who served as mayor until he died unexpectedly in April at age 67.

Valentino is in an ideal position to put those lessons to work, because he was among the five city officials who were formally sworn into office during a swearing-in ceremony Monday evening in city hall.

Also sworn in were incumbent city Law Director Lamprini G. Mathews and city council President George Levendis, along with Ioannis Kalouris and Mary Janek as the newly elected 2nd Ward councilman and 3rd Ward councilwoman, respectively.

Incumbent Timothy O’Bryan was sworn in as 1st Ward councilman at the last regular council meeting Nov. 19.

An estimated 100 family members, friends, supporters and others filled the courtroom Monday.

Valentino noted that he plans to pick up where Tedesco left off regarding a variety of city projects, as well as to continue to build on progress he sees the city of about 7,900 has made in recent years.

Specifically, Valentino intends to keep Music in the Park events in Roosevelt Park and the annual City Fest going, both of which were near to Tedesco’s heart. He also hopes to move forward with bringing a full-service grocery store to the city, Valentino said, adding that he greatly appreciates Tedesco’s willingness to push forward on these projects and to help anyone who sought him.

“I feel that all we’re doing is changing the nameplate. Everything else stays the same,” he added.

Levendis is starting his eighth term as council president after having served eight months as mayor because of Tedesco’s death. Like Valentino, he is committed to building on the city’s strengths and moving it forward.

For Levendis, that means continuing with efforts to eradicate blight, which largely entailed razing many derelict Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. row houses during the past few years, as well as keeping Campbell fiscally strong, attracting new business and industries that include the grocery store, something that was high on Tedesco’s priority list.

One of his crowning achievements as council president was bearing witness to the city getting out of fiscal emergency, a position it’s been in for 13 years, he noted.

“We want to maintain a positive cash flow in our fund,” Levendis said, adding, “I’m most comfortable (as council president), and it’s where I belong.”

Making improvements to Roosevelt Park off Struthers-Liberty Road is high on Kalouris’ to-do list, which entails removing dead trees and bettering the overall aesthetics, he said, adding that he also hopes to bring jobs to the city, in part by making vacant parcels productive.

In addition, Kalouris is dedicated to assisting the other three wards with efforts to move them along a positive trajectory, he continued.

For her part, Janek listed her priorities as advocating for responsible development, along with ensuring continued fiscal responsibility, ethical governance, inclusion and transparency. The 30-year Campbell Memorial High School educator also said she intends to fight to keep city services affordable for all residents.

Whatever challenges and triumphs lie ahead for Valentino, it’s probably safe to say that Tedesco’s spirit of grit, hard work, ingratiating himself to his constituents and going the extra mile for them will be guideposts, he said.

“It just came out of him and into me,” the new mayor added.