YOUNGSTOWN — Having serious concerns about the Mahoning County Board of Elections current location, board Chairman David Betras said he wants Youngstown officials to give the former Bottom Dollar store at no cost to the Western Reserve Port Authority, which would sign a lease to have the board relocate there.

Betras told The Vindicator after a Tuesday board meeting, “There’s a lot of work to be done to that building, so as long as the city doesn’t kill us on the price, it’s going to work. But if they’re going to kill us on the price, I mean, the dollars have to make sense.”

Betras added, “The city should donate the property to the port authority because we’re going to give them what they ultimately want, and that’s an anchor tenant for the Glenwood corridor. The building’s been empty for forever. This gives the city something to build on.”

The former Bottom Dollar grocery store on Glenwood Avenue, vacant since January 2015, is the preferred location for the board’s new home by at least three of its four members: Betras, Sandra Barger and Denise Bayer.

Some board officials, including Betras and Barger, toured the building April 9 and came away impressed with it.

Betras said, “We have a rough estimate of what it will cost to retrofit that building. There’s a lot of things we have yet to add in and figure out if financially it’s going to work. The biggest part of that puzzle is what the city is willing to let that building go for.”

Betras said he’s tried to talk to city officials about working out a deal but is “getting bounced around like a ping pong ball” while being told to talk to different people.

Andy Resnick, the city’s spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday while Mayor Derrick McDowell didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Betras said Tuesday he is trying to get permission to address city council at its meeting Wednesday.

The board of elections will meet May 26 in executive session to have a discussion on the potential purchase of real estate related to Bottom Dollar.

Bayer said, “It’s for all of the board to get on the same page for specifics for the building. We’re going to talk about a plan for how we’ll move forward.”

Elections board officials have vocally complained for more than two years about the conditions at the county-owned Oak Hill Renaissance Place on Oakhill Avenue, where it’s been housed for nearly 20 years.

On Monday, another leak occurred at the board office, said Melissa Wasko, deputy director. The leak didn’t cause any damage in the board’s retention room, she said. It occurred when toilets on an upper floor were flushed, causing water to come into the room, and was minor, Wasko said. But it’s the third leak at the board of elections in the past year.

Betras said, “This is what scares me the most about this building. At some point, something catastrophic is going to happen and we’re not going to dig our way out of it. I want to put on pressure and we need to move expeditiously through this process because I don’t want to explain to the public why we’ve got a catastrophic building failure.”

A board resolution, passed March 3, states Oak Hill “is in materially deficient and hazardous condition, including but not limited to the lack of potable water for employees and unsafe building conditions, and such conditions materially impair the board’s ability to safely and effectively conduct elections and fulfill its statutory obligations.”

The city used $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan funds in 2024 to renovate the 18,285-square-foot former Bottom Dollar building with plans for the Village of Healing to operate an infant mortality clinic as the main tenant.

The rest of the building wasn’t touched during the renovations, and the Village of Healing isn’t moving there.

The building still needs improvements to the rest of the interior — though it might not be as extensive for the board of elections because it needs storage space for equipment — as well as roof repairs.

ELECTION CERTIFIED

The board voted Tuesday to certify the results of the May 5 primary election. None of the results changed after certification.

The election had two Republican central committee races that ended in ties. There will be a recount on May 26, though the results almost certainly won’t change and the winners will be decided in coin flips.

In Youngstown 7C, Josie Lyon and Barbara A. Noufer both received nine votes.

In Campbell 2A, David J. Aey and Ioannis N. Kalouris both received 22 votes.