‘A slap in the face’: Republicans absent from Mahoning County candidates forum
A nonpartisan forum for Mahoning County’s state and local primary election candidates on Monday evening had no participation from Republican candidates.
Youngstown Community Mobilization Coalition, a nonpartisan collaborative of Black and Hispanic community groups focused on voter education, coordinated the forum alongside Youngstown’s New Bethel Baptist Church.
Each candidate for open seats in the Ohio House’s 58th and 59th districts, the Ohio Senate’s 33rd District, Mahoning County’s Board of Commissioners and Common Pleas Court and the 7th District Court of Appeals received individual invitations to appear before voters, Jaladah Aslam, the coalition’s vice chairperson and president of the Youngstown Warren Black Caucus, told Mahoning Matters.
The Rev. Kenneth Simon, New Bethel pastor, said even Republican candidates who previously committed to the forum backed out, some at the last minute. Toward the end of the two-hour public presentation, he called it “a slap in the face to the African-American community.”
Redistricting confusion
As Ohio’s disputes over new state legislative districts continue, Secretary of State Frank LaRose last week ordered county boards of elections to remove races for those districts from May 3 primary ballots, which include most of the candidates who appeared for Monday’s forum — all but for those running for commissioner or judge. The state legislative races may still be rescheduled, possibly for August, according to LaRose’s office.
Mahoning County’s only contested Statehouse primary races are in the 59th and 58th House districts, according to the county elections board. There are currently no valid petitions for Republican candidacy in the 59th House District race, another effect of the unfinished redistricting process, which has left Statehouse district numbers and boundaries in question. The current 59th District’s Republican incumbent, Rep. Al Cutrona of Canfield, has filed to run in the newly proposed 58th House District.
Below, you can watch the full forum, which was livestreamed to the church’s Facebook page, and read on for excerpts of comments from the candidates who appeared:
Mahoning County commissioner
Democrat Carol Rimedio-Righetti, the incumbent candidate, is running for her fourth term as county commissioner.
“We’re a group. We’re a team player. We work with everyone across the board,” she said.
She pointed to the board’s recent allotment of federal COVID-19 relief funds for local rental assistance programs.
Rimedio-Righetti also highlighted the county’s “stable” fiscal foundation, including a $32 million general fund, a $34 million justice fund.
She told voters she feels the county’s three biggest challenges in the coming term are the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping social services “at full capacity and running” and “restructuring and looking at all our facilities” to improve their performance.
Forum moderators asked Rimedio-Righetti about the county’s 2006 purchase of Oakhill Renaissance Place, which had an overall operating deficit of nearly $25 million through 2020, and had $11 million in outstanding debt as of December 2021, according to Auditor Ralph Meacham’s office.
“I did not vote on buying or moving into Oakhill. I would have felt better [if] that had been a new facility at that time,” she said. “Moving forward, it’s worked for what we needed to do right now.”
Rimedio-Righetti said county officials are considering further uses for it, like using it to host the county Green Team’s recycling drives, which are currently done at the Canfield Fairgrounds.
When asked about the lack of maternity services in Youngstown, she said it has a direct impact on the city’s high Black infant mortality rate. The city’s last maternity ward was at Northside Regional Medical Center, which closed in 2018, according to Vindicator archives.
She said county officials, including the city and county health boards, are currently mulling plans to study the issue more closely.
Rimedio-Righetti’s presumed November general election challenger, Geno DiFabio Jr., a Youngstown Republican who acted as a local surrogate for former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election, did not appear Monday.
Ohio 59th House District representative
Democrat Lauren McNally, a former reporter who holds degrees in political science and journalism, has been Youngstown’s 5th Ward councilperson for the past six years.
“I really want to take what I’ve learned and what I’ve accomplished in the city and help the whole region,” she said.
If elected, McNally said she intends to focus on education, “from kindergarten to career employment” and partner with workforce agencies, businesses and trade unions on workforce development.
McNally said she thinks localities are too often competing for the same resources and “working in silos.”
“I want to help city leaders organize so we have a regionalized plan for our infrastructure, our development, our job readiness,” she said.
When asked by moderators about proactive measures candidates could take to prevent violence in Youngstown, McNally blamed the city’s inability to expand safety forces, community policing initiatives or mental health response on the loss of local government funding from the state.
She said she feels Ohio needs “sensible” gun laws, and that state legislators should create counterarguments to repeal lax regulations and “put in place the [laws] that keep our children safe, keep our families safe.”
When asked about solutions to the area’s high Black infant mortality rate — which is 15.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in Mahoning County — McNally, a city council public health committee member, said, “The best thing we can do in Youngstown is … providing education to prenatal and postnatal mothers.”
She also called pending Ohio legislation to ban education on “divisive issues” including critical race theory “ridiculous” and “completely disgusting.”
Democrat Wayne Penny Jr., who told voters Monday he works in the mental health field and lives in Youngstown, said this is his first run at public office.
“I believe it’s time for new blood, time for new faces to our movement … time for fresh perspective and, most importantly, time for true action,” he said.
Penny said he thinks minority-owned small businesses need “a fairer shake” in Ohio.
He also advocated for bringing life-skills or vocational education — classes like cooking, economics and electronics — back to schools.
On the issue of rising violence in Youngstown, Penny said he thinks it’s important for local law enforcement to “come up with a plan of action.”
On the city’s Black infant mortality rate, Penny said he thinks young mothers “lack the tools to raise their children.” He said he thinks Statehouse bipartisanship can develop more preventive measures.
When asked about the state’s proposed CRT ban, Penny said, “It’s bad enough that our teachers aren’t fully equipped with the tools they need to teach our students. Then to ban critical race theory — which is just history — is absolutely trash.”
Democrat Ronald Shadd, a former eight-year Youngstown City Schools Board of Education member voted out in last November’s general election, told voters he joined the board when the district was in “dire straits” and helped “right the ship.”
“Through compromise and through building relationships, we were able to find a better tomorrow for our district,” the former school board president said.
Shadd said he now wants to bring that same energy to the Statehouse.
He said if elected, he would focus on legislation to create more shovel-ready commercial property sites in Youngstown and similar communities, to spur economic development.
Responding to moderators’ question about rising violence in Youngstown, Shadd said the city needs more “grassroots efforts” to deter children from the path to violence and reduce recidivism.
“One good job changes everything. One decent opportunity changes a life, changes a family,” he said.
He also called for more gun training and bringing back the training requirement for a concealed carry permit.
Shadd, who served in the city health district’s Minority Health Division, said mothers need better insurance options to make care more accessible, especially for high-risk pregnancies.
On the state’s proposed CRT ban, Shadd said, “In no way should our education system be changed to remove something from it. If anything, it should be added.
“To say something should not be recognized is detrimental to our nation.”
Ohio House 58th District representative
Democrat Bruce Neff, a local businessman, is currently in his fifth year as a Canfield city councilperson. In the November 2021 general election, he challenged local businessman Don Dragish for the mayor’s seat and was defeated.
He told voters the state’s Democratic committee in Columbus asked him to run for the seat.
“Since I’ve learned about how state politics are run, it is so important that we get the best representation we can in Columbus,” Neff told voters.
Neff said he’s spent some 20 years living across the country in various major metropolitan areas.
“I’ve got a lot of experience from other states, and I bring that experience back to our state,” he said.
When asked by moderators about legislation he’d like to craft in his first term, Neff first said he’d work to repeal regressive laws, specifically pointing to the state’s permitless-carry changes signed into law earlier this month.
Neff said he thinks voting rights laws also need to be strengthened with new legislation. He called voter roll purges “a travesty.”
“Voting is a fundamental right. … Everything we’ve seen coming out from Columbus so far is impinging on voting rights, not protecting them or encouraging them,” he said.
On the issue of Ohio House Bill 70, which put Youngstown City Schools and other underperforming Ohio school districts under state control, Neff said he feels local officials have “been doing a good job” and that he would support a return to local control.
Neff’s presumed November general election challenger, Republican Al Cutrona of Canfield, the sitting 59th House District representative, did not appear Monday.
Cutrona is facing a primary challenge from write-in candidate Jeffery W. Green of Canfield, who also did not appear.
Ohio Senate 33rd District senator
Democrat Bob Hagan was the Ohio House 58th District representative from 2006 to 2014. He also previously served as the 33rd District senator from 1997 to 2002 and the 53rd District representative from 1986 and 1990.
Now, he told voters he wants to go back to the Statehouse to keep Republican legislators honest.
“People have started to mistrust government,” he said. “I think, seriously, we’re at a place where most of what we’re seeing now is based on a government that people think [is] lying.”
Hagan told voters he thinks his presumed November challenger, incumbent Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem — who did not appear for Monday’s forum — has “decided to wrap himself in the Trump flag of lies and deception.”
“I want to make this campaign about ideals,” Hagan said. “I’ll make sure the people of the Valley understand mine, and I’ll make sure they understand his as well.”
When asked about House-passed legislation allowing teachers and other employees to carry firearms in schools, Hagan called the bill “a disgrace.”
“The Second Amendment does say you’re allowed to keep and bear guns. We’ve gone way far with that,” he said.
On moderators’ question about the lack of maternity services in Youngstown, Hagan told voters he advocated against shuttering Northside.
“I think there’s still room to do at least a portion of that,” he said. “If an organization … makes a request for capital appropriations, I think it’s an excellent way to use those dollars.”
When asked about new voting access legislation — specifically, a bill that would set an earlier deadline for absentee ballot requests, cut one early in-person voting day and require state IDs for voter registration, among other provisions — Hagan said he is “totally opposed.”
“Surprise, surprise. Who wouldn’t be voting under those conditions? Minorities, the elderly and Democrats,” he said. “We should be talking about making it easier to vote.”
7th District Court of Appeals judge
Incumbent Demoratic Judge Gene Donofrio is one of four sitting judges on the 7th District Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction covers Mahoning County and overlaps with Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties.
Donofrio on Monday told voters he has sat on the Ohio Supreme Court “multiple times,” on appointment from the high court’s chief justice, and written “thousands” of legal opinions during his career.
“The reason I’m running for this position … is I still really enjoy the work on the court and I feel I’ve become good at it. I feel I still have a lot to offer,” Donofrio told voters.
“I think I have a good reputation for integrity and hard work. I’ve been unopposed the last four elections. That shows my reputation in the community.”
Donofrio also currently teaches at Youngstown State University. His family has also advocated for addiction services for indigent defendants, he said.
Donofrio’s presumed November general election challenger is Republican attorney Mark Hanni of Canfield, who did not appear Monday.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
