Officials: Show won't affect Mahoning sales tax vote

Print Story

Email to Friend

Discuss this story

The sales tax is a public safety issue, county officials agree.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains and county Commissioner John McNally say they don't think a Cafaro Co.-sponsored TV program, aired Sunday, concerning Oakhill Renaissance Place will affect the outcome of the May 8 renewal vote on the county's half-percent sales tax.

"I believe the voters are going to see through it and realize that this is a public safety issue," Gains said, referring to the role of the sales tax in funding county jail operations.

"I think the voters — the citizens of Mahoning County — realize that the issue about the sales tax is about funding government operations, specifically funding the criminal justice system," McNally said. "My cell phone has not rung. I have not gotten any e-mails," concerning the Cafaro program, he said Monday.

"We need this sales tax. We need this $14.5 million [in annual revenues from the tax] to be in place," McNally added.

McNally, who said he thinks the tax renewal will pass, opposed the county's purchase of Oakhill. McNally added that he neither previewed nor watched the Cafaro broadcast.

"I wouldn't dignify it with a reaction," Gains said when a reporter asked him to react to the program, which aired at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on WFMJ-TV Channel 21 and WKBN-TV Channel 27 and will air again at the same time next Sunday on both stations.

About the broadcast

The half-hour commercial broadcast was paid for by the Cafaro Co., parent of the Ohio Valley Mall Co., which has been the landlord of the county's Department of Job and Family Services at Garland Plaza, 709 N. Garland Ave., for the past 19 years.

The broadcast consists of excerpts from eight hours of video depositions. These were taken from Commissioners Anthony Traficanti and Davd Ludt as part of a pending lawsuit by OVM to block the county from spending money to renovate Oakhill to accommodate JFS, which the commissioners plan to move to Oakhill.

The county bought Oakhill — the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center — last summer in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The program features snippets of comments from Traficanti and Ludt, who supported the county's purchase of Oakhill, interspersed with slides that either correct factual inaccuracies in their statements or offer Cafaro's commentary on the commissioners' statements. The program's theme is that the commissioners bought Oakhill without having sufficient information about the costs of renovating and operating the building.

Gains had unsuccessfully sought a gag order to block airing of the program, which he said in court papers was timed to defeat the sales tax. But John J. Cafaro, executive vice president of the Cafaro Co., emphatically denied that charge last week and said he recommends that the voters renew the sales tax.

Few calls received

Gains said his office received only one telephone call in response to the program — a woman who characterized the show as "rotten" and "political" and said she had called the TV stations to protest its airing.

An employee of the county commissioners' office said Monday afternoon that all 10 calls that office received on this issue favored Traficanti and Ludt's position on Oakhill. All three commissioners are unanimous in support of the sales tax renewal.

"I kind of feel it's a nonissue," David Coy, WKBN-TV general manager, said of the broadcast. "I was just overwhelmed at the lack of people calling," Coy added.

Coy said he received two calls, both from people who disliked the tone of the show and "felt it was extremely biased in favor of the Cafaros' position.'' The newsroom got no calls on this matter, he said. Coy said he got no e-mails on the subject.

His counterpart, John Grdic, WFMJ-TV general manager, said he got no calls or e-mails concerning the Cafaro show.

Atty. Jim Dobran at Cafaro Co. headquarters did not return a call seeking comment Monday afternoon. Traficanti and Ludt could not be reached for comment.

"It's better to own than to pay rent," for JFS quarters in the long term, Gains said. "We've been paying rent for 19 years, and we've got nothing to show for it."

milliken@vindy.com

Tuesday, May 1, 2007