RYAN KELLY PROFILE | ‘I see the city thriving completely again’

YOUNGSTOWN — Ryan Kelly believes Youngstown is past due for change and claims city operations over the years have not worked.

Kelly has coached football at Ursuline High School for the past 10 years. When he played football in high school, he said his teammates were like his family.

By coaching teens for a decade, he has learned young people need something to believe in and to be shown what their future can look like, he said.

He calls that an opportunity to lead by example.

"We're not doing a good enough job of influencing them and showing them the opportunities they can have," Kelly said.

A 'millionaire' goal

Kelly is a lifelong resident of Youngstown and graduated from Ursuline High School in 2008. Following graduation, he became the co-owner of Belleria Pizza in Girard.

While Kelly was driven to start a business by an early goal "to be a millionaire," he — on a more practical note — likes to be able to work for himself and benefit his family.

Over the years, he has owned four Belleria Pizza locations in Girard, Warren, Hubbard and Columbiana and Kelly's Bar and Grill on Mahoning Avenue. He eventually sold three of the pizza locations and the bar.

He attended Youngstown State University and is the first person in his family to get a bachelor's degree. Kelly now co-owns Belleria Pizza in Columbiana.

He lives in Youngstown with his wife, Elizabeth.

Youngstown and the pandemic

For eight years, Kelly has served on the Youngstown Board of Health. He had a "front row seat" to the department's pandemic response, he said.

Kelly said he believes Youngstown City Health District has done an amazing job responding to the pandemic.

He was impressed to see the health department get to work and help residents get access to testing, personal protective equipment and vaccines.

The city needs to continue to reach out to residents — especially in minority communities — and provide information on the coronavirus vaccine, Kelly said.

"It's never enough until you know for a fact that every person has been notified [and] every person is as educated as they can and should be," Kelly said.

He said if constituents don't trust their president or Congress to inform them, they should trust their mayor and council members. He'd like to see local leadership educating Youngstown residents.

Kelly said Youngstown must update its operations by looking at every department and process to make city functions as efficient as possible. He also wants to see City Hall connect with residents more easily and effectively.

He believes Youngstown has lagged behind the rest of the world in technology. Now that the world has slowed down due to the pandemic, Youngstown can catch up, he said.

"If we're not going to catch up, there will never be an opportunity to catch up ever again," Kelly said.

The city will soon receive $88.6 million — half in May and the rest in 2022 — from the federal American Rescue Plan and will have until 2024 to spend the money.

Kelly said the funds can be used as bandages to fix existing issues, but leadership should establish long-term goals to improve Youngstown. As mayor, Kelly's spending plan would look at the city's financial situation and ask for feedback from employees, he said.

Some of the aspects of Kelly's plans for spending the relief funds include:

• Addressing shortfalls in the city's budget;
• Infrastructure financing;
• Increasing broadband access in the city;
• Jobs programs for economic development;
• Ways to use the windfall to create new long-term revenue for the city.

Youngstown Police Department

With increased violence being reported in the city and the national narrative calling for police reform, Kelly said it's important for all police officers in the Youngstown Police Department to understand the needs and experiences of everyone in the community, regardless of race. However, he believes Youngstown residents also need to understand the perspective of the police.

Through community policing, police officers can continue to connect with residents, he said.

As a football coach, Kelly is bothered that the students he coaches have a fear of getting pulled over by the police.

"I get a sickness in my stomach," Kelly said.

As a lifetime resident of Youngstown, he's seen the city in a cycle of crime that needs to be addressed with a long-term solution. The police department needs to enforce areas known to have high crime rates, he said.

"We can't continue to have loss of life," Kelly said.

Kelly also thinks the city should establish an advisory board and a citizens review board for the police department. Both would help create trust between residents and the police and educate both groups.

He said the community should have a voice to give its perspective on ways that residents feel comfortable and can trust the police department.

"From the other side of it, I think the police need to have their perspective heard," Kelly said.

Youngstown City School District

Kelly said he would like to see local control restored in Youngstown City Schools, but he does not know what that should look like.

"I think the big focus has to be on the kids," Kelly said.

School is the most important time in a child's life. The city should not be arguing over who has the most control of the schools and focus on the students, Kelly said.

"In the end, this is what, long-term, is going to have the biggest impact on our city," Kelly said.

Kelly would like to see the city partner with schools to educate students and parents about financial literacy.

"We can't allow ourselves to be stopped by any roadblock," Kelly said. "We have to continue toward that end goal."

The future of Youngstown

In 10 years, Kelly sees Youngstown as one of the top urban innovation hubs for technology in the country.

The building blocks are in place, he said. For example, he sees Youngstown as an urban innovation hub and a leading city in additive manufacturing technology. He also wants the city to have a strong partnership with Youngstown State University.

"I see the city thriving completely again," Kelly said.

If elected mayor of Youngstown, Kelly said he would ban the phrase: "This is the way we've always done things."

Kelly said he wants to empower citizens and City Hall employees to share their concerns and ideas and help find a solution.

"I want to foster a culture of innovation and reward new ideas," Kelly said.

This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 3:52 AM with the headline "RYAN KELLY PROFILE | ‘I see the city thriving completely again’."