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Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell likes the language of business.
Strategy. Transparency. Action. Results.
And, perhaps most importantly, deliverables.
It is a good word. In fact, it may be the perfect word for evaluating the McDowell administration.
Because a deliverable isn't a vision. It isn't a listening session. It isn't a slogan, a social-media post, a committee, a meeting or another promise that something better is coming.
A deliverable is something that was promised -- and then delivered.
Mayor McDowell took office Jan 1. His campaign website laid out an ambitious agenda for Youngstown, including economic development and small business, education, transportation, responsive government, neighborhood investment, transparency and accountability, public safety, and population stability and growth.
So now that the campaign is over and governing has begun, Youngstown residents deserve a straightforward question:
Where are the deliverables?
RESPONSIVE CITY HALL?
McDowell's campaign promised to "Deliver a responsive City Hall that works for us all." His website envisioned a modern and transparent City Hall, a committed staff that promptly responds to residents, public engagement and government that moves beyond status-quo solutions.
His First 90 Days agenda got even more specific.
It proposed a 24-hour response time acknowledging initial inquiries, "5 Minutes with the Mayor," a Youngstown text system, quarterly town halls, annual impact reports, a State of the City address and clear city social-media channels. It also called for an updated city website, improved See-Click-Fix reporting and tracking, "How Do I?" public information and town halls with city department directors.
Those are measurable commitments.
So measure them.
What percentage of resident inquiries are being acknowledged within 24 hours?
Where is that data published?
Has the improved reporting and tracking system been implemented?
Where is the new "How Do I?" information?
Which department directors have held town halls?
What is the schedule for the quarterly town halls?
Where are the deliverables?
NEIGHBORHOODS?
McDowell's campaign said investing in every part of Youngstown was a top priority.
The website promised priority projects in every ward and accountability for tax dollars spent on street resurfacing, streetlights, sidewalk repairs, traffic calming, blight reduction and neighborhood development. It talked about revitalizing neighborhoods, addressing affordable quality housing and bringing back shops, plazas and family-sustaining jobs.
His First 90 Days page went further: strengthen Block Watches, execute ward-specific priority projects and undertake branding and beautification efforts throughout Youngstown's neighborhoods.
Fine.
Which priority project has been selected for each ward?
What's the budget? What's the timeline? Who's responsible? Which Block Watches have received additional resources? What specific neighborhood investments have been authorized since January?
Which streets, sidewalks, lights and blighted properties are on the administration's priority list -- and when will the work be finished?
Those aren't hostile questions.
They are deliverable questions.
PUBLIC SAFETY
McDowell's First 90 Days plan identified police and fire staffing, morale, recruitment, retention, job satisfaction and career quality as priorities.
It also proposed an "Every Street Light Yo!" program intended to make residents feel safe walking their own blocks.
So where do things stand?
What were police and fire staffing levels January 1? What are they today? How many vacancies have been filled? What recruitment or retention initiatives have been implemented?How much did they cost?
What measurable results have they produced?
And what happened to "Every Street Light Yo!"? How many broken or inadequate streetlights have been identified?
How many have been repaired?
Which neighborhoods are next?
Where are the deliverables?
QUALITY OF LIFE
The campaign couldn't have been much clearer.
Its Quality of Life platform literally carried the heading:
"DELIVER A SAFER, CLEANER, MORE BEAUTIFUL YOUNGSTOWN."
It pledged attention to parking, walkability, cleaner and safer public transportation, cycling infrastructure, street lighting, road paving, pothole standards, litter, debris and illegal dumping.
That's practically a checklist.
So let's see the checklist.
What parking reforms have been proposed or implemented? What public-transportation improvements has the administration pursued? What is the city's streetlight standard? What is the pothole response standard?
How quickly should residents expect repairs?
How many illegal dumping sites have been cleaned? How many citations have been issued? How much litter and debris has been removed?
What has improved -- in numbers -- since January 1?
Where are the deliverables?
EDUCATION
McDowell also promised to use the mayor's office to champion education.
His platform identified parent and family engagement, stronger pre-K enrollment, improved on-grade reading and citywide incentives for academic attendance.
The mayor doesn't run the school district, and it would be unfair to pretend otherwise. But McDowell himself said the mayor's office would champion these efforts.
So what has City Hall done?
What partnerships have been created? What attendance initiative has been launched? What pre-K enrollment campaign exists?What resources has the city committed?
What are the baseline numbers against which success will be measured?
If City Hall intends to help improve reading proficiency, what is the target?
If attendance is a priority, what improvement does the administration expect and by when?
A goal without a measurement eventually becomes a slogan.
Where are the deliverables?
SMALL BUSINESS,
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
This should be McDowell's wheelhouse.
He built much of his public identity around entrepreneurship and the Youngstown Flea.
His campaign promised to revive Youngstown's entrepreneurial spirit by supporting local businesses through clearer processes, streamlined permitting and strategic development. He argued that entrepreneurship, arts and entertainment, athletics and Youngstown's physical assets could become engines of economic activity.
Good.
What has changed for somebody trying to open a business in Youngstown?
Has permitting actually been streamlined? How many steps were eliminated? How long did the average permit take before McDowell took office, and how long does it take now?
How many new businesses have opened? How many jobs have been created? What private investment has been secured? What city-owned property has moved toward productive reuse?
What is the measurable strategy for turning arts, entertainment and athletics into economic development?
Where are the deliverables?
RECLAIMING IDENTITY
"Reclaiming Our Identity" was the centerpiece of McDowell's campaign.
His website describes Youngstown's identity through entrepreneurship, entertainment, athletics, academics and education, outdoor activities and even its potential as a convention destination. Another campaign page explicitly plays on the initials, arguing that "Reclaiming Our Identity (ROI) has Return On Investment (ROI)."
Then show Youngstown the ROI.
If taxpayer resources are going toward marketing Youngstown's identity, what is the budget?
What are taxpayers buying?
How will success be measured? Hotel stays? Visitors? Convention bookings? Business openings? Earned media?
Income-tax growth? New residents? Private investment?
Give residents a baseline, a target, a deadline and the eventual result.
That's what a deliverable looks like.
TRANSPARENCY
AND ACCOUNTABILITY
There is a simple way Mayor McDowell could answer virtually every question in this column.
Publish the scorecard.
Put every major campaign commitment on the city's website.
Next to each commitment, list the responsible department, starting baseline, target, budget, deadline, current status and final result.
Green for completed.
Yellow for underway.
Red for behind schedule.
And if something isn't going to happen, say so and explain why.
That would be transparency.
That would be accountability.
And, importantly, that would allow residents to distinguish between an administration that is failing and an administration that is simply working through difficult problems that require time.
McDowell campaigned against dysfunction and lack of accountability at City Hall. During the campaign he said, "I see a problem and I want to fix it."
Now he's the mayor. That changes the equation.
Campaign candidates identify problems. Mayors own them.
NO MIRACLES EXPECTED
Derrick McDowell has been mayor for months, not years.
No reasonable person should expect decades of population loss, blight, poverty, infrastructure deterioration and economic difficulty to disappear in a matter of months.
That's not the standard.
The standard should be whether the administration is converting promises into plans, plans into deadlines, deadlines into completed work and completed work into measurable improvements in people's lives.
McDowell's own First 90 Days document called itself "A Road Map For Action."
Residents should therefore be able to see where Youngstown is on that road map.
What was supposed to happen? What actually happened? What didn't happen? Why didn't it happen? What happens next?
And when will it be finished?
Those questions aren't anti-McDowell. They're what accountability looks like.
In fact, Mayor McDowell gave Youngstown the perfect word for judging his administration.
Deliverables.
So let's use it.
Mayor McDowell, you told Youngstown what you wanted to deliver.
Now show us.
Where are the deliverables?
Follow writer Mark Matasic at https://substack.com/@markmatasic