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YOUNGSTOWN — Republican Steve Kristan of Canfield, a political newcomer, is difficult two-term Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler within the fall election.
Ditzler, a Democrat, has been commissioner eight years and was an Austintown trustee 19 years whereas working practically 30 years in gross sales for 2 metal firms.
Kristan is looking for public workplace for the primary time after 35 years as director of exterior affairs for AT&T.
Ditzler mentioned certainly one of his best accomplishments as a commissioner was fixing county monetary shortfalls when he first took workplace in 2013.
“After I received there eight years in the past, they’d taken a bond difficulty out for $2 million to pay a well being care invoice. I believed, ‘That’s like paying your electrical invoice with a Mastercard,’” he mentioned.
The county had no carryover stability on the time, and the county’s well being care invoice was rising by $2 million per yr. Workers have been paying little of their well being care prices, and there was too little cash within the well being care fund.
“So we began to work well being care language into the contracts. We began to verify everyone had buy-in on it,” Ditzler mentioned. “At present, from the entire various things we’ve achieved … we’ve actually been capable of create a surplus in our well being care plan — $14 million coming into this yr.” He mentioned the county has about 1,700 staff.
The county is also saving cash in different areas. “This yr, we carried over $16 million into the final fund,” which enabled the county to resist the prices of the COVID-19 pandemic, he mentioned.
VISION PLAN
When Kristan determined to run for commissioner, he met with a number of dozen group leaders to ask what they like most and least concerning the county.
“From that I put collectively my MVP — Mahoning County Imaginative and prescient Plan for 2025,” he mentioned. “I see Mahoning County as we’re on the cusp within the sense of creating some adjustments and implementing some issues or staying complacent and mediocre and finally falling backwards. In my realm of enterprise, you both preserve transferring ahead otherwise you fall again.
“I noticed Mahoning County not transferring ahead and in some instances transferring backwards. I’ve labored with counties throughout northeast Ohio, and I’ve seen what a few of the good ones do, what a few of the mediocre ones do.”
Kristan mentioned his first precedence is increasing excessive velocity web — often known as broadband — for all residents as a result of there are pockets of residents who do not need it.
The group Join Ohio mentioned a couple of years in the past that greater than 30 p.c of properties in Youngstown do not need web though it’s obtainable, Kristan mentioned.
Groups of enterprise, group and authorities leaders shall be recruited to advise and direct a private-public partnership to design and implement the challenge, he mentioned.
“It’s going to assist our inhabitants as a result of if the know-how isn’t obtainable right here, individuals will go away and go the place it’s obtainable,” he mentioned. “College students may have extra on-line academic alternatives. Staff will profit as they acquire extra alternatives to work remotely, and seniors may have elevated entry to tele-health providers. As well as, it’s going to doubtlessly appeal to individuals to the world and develop our tax base.”
Ditzler mentioned Mahoning County partnered with Ashtabula and Trumbull counties in an effort to enhance broadband entry by making it a utility and secured a $135,000 grant. The counties are ready to obtain proposals from firms desirous about carrying it out.
FAIR SHARE
Kristan mentioned U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D- Howland, spoke not too long ago in Boardman concerning the prime three space initiatives, and they’re all in Trumbull County.
“You get on Bailey Highway at Interstate 76, and also you see FedEx. You see inexperienced house. I like inexperienced house, however that’s all there’s till you hit the (Trumbull) county line,” he mentioned. “After which there’s TJX, there’s Lordstown Motors, the battery plant. There’s energy plant 1 and energy plant 2.”
He mentioned it “looks as if we’re not getting our fair proportion” in Mahoning County.
In response, Ditzler mentioned most individuals don’t perceive what a county commissioner’s authority is.
Individuals say “We must always do that with the town (of Youngstown) or try this with the town. Nicely, there’s no county roads within the metropolis. There’s no county issues that influence the town that we are able to provoke,” he mentioned.
Ditzler mentioned he had a extra authority when he was an Austintown trustee than he does now as commissioner in {that a} trustee could make adjustments to the police division or highway division, however these capabilities are run by one other elected official in county authorities.
He was capable of assist the Hollywood at Mahoning Valley racino in Austintown, nonetheless, when he turned a county commissioner by creating tax-increment financing to assist enhance the infrastructure across the challenge and different areas.
He tried to create tax increment financing for the racino web site when the Centerpointe enterprise park challenge was being proposed there, however the county commissioners on the time blocked it. The tax-increment financing cash is now getting used to enhance Meridian Highway and 23 miles of roads by way of the county engineer’s workplace, Ditzler mentioned.
He is also a part of the Taxing Infrastructure District Board that secured $250,000 for planning and design of business areas in North Jackson, Ditzler mentioned. The board can doubtlessly safe extra cash to enhance infrastructure for firms similar to PureFoods, Amazon, FedEx and Extrudex, he mentioned.
David Ditzler (D)
AGE: 62
HOMETOWN: Austintown
EMPLOYMENT: Two phrases as Mahoning County commissioner, 35 years within the metal business, 19 years as Austintown Township trustee.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s diploma in enterprise administration and affiliate diploma in utilized enterprise, Youngstown State College.
Steve Kristan (R)
AGE: 61
HOMETOWN: Canfield
EMPLOYMENT: Retired AT&T director of exterior affairs 1984 to 2019, labored for Blue Cross two years and IBM two years.
EDUCATION: Boston Faculty certificates in group and company relations; bachelor’s diploma, Bowling Inexperienced State College.
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