WEATHERSFIELD Township trustees voted unanimously to withdraw Weathersfield’s contract with the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber.
The reason for ending the relationship Tuesday came on the heels of former Niles City Councilman Ryan McNaughton being named the chamber’s vice president of governmental affairs.
Although none of the trustees named McNaughton, they referenced his new and former titles and his involvement with annexation legislation.
While two of the trustees were all for withdrawing, vice chairman Marvin McBride said he had reservations about the move.
During a trustees’ meeting, McBride said the board needed to look to the future and see how the decision would affect the township when they are gone. McBride said when dealing with an organization as powerful as the chamber, working with them is more beneficial than working against them.
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Guy Coviello
The economic impact of the oil and natural gas industry in Ohio has been immense over the past decade. Whether the result of the thousands of well-paying jobs the industry has generated, or the billions of dollars invested in the Mahoning Valley and beyond, the oil and gas industry is a key economic driver in the Buckeye State.
The industry is creating economic opportunities for people in communities across Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and other counties that are home to gas and oil wells, as well as the industry’s supply chain. To portray Ohio’s oil and gas industry as anything other than an economic pillar in this region of the state, as a recent report by the Ohio River Valley Institute did, is disingenuous at best and manipulative at worst.
NILES Councilman at-Large Ryan McNaughton has submitted his letter of resignation from Niles City Council.
McNaughton submitted the letter to the Trumbull County Board of Elections on Friday and his final day on council will be Sunday. Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz confirmed McNaughton submitted the letter Friday.
“Because of my new job, I don’t really have a choice. I had to,” McNaughton said.
He said he is going to be the new vice president for government affairs for the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber.
“They recruited me, and it all happened very fast. I couldn’t say no to it,” McNaughton said.
WARREN Trumbull County has spent about 73 percent of the emergency pandemic funding it received through the federal CARES Act.
The county was awarded about $10.5 million and through Feb. 5 has spent $7.698 million, leaving about $2.8 million in reserve, according to documents provided by the Trumbull County commissioners’ and auditor’s offices.
After two of three commissioners committed Thursday to use some funds to build a structure for vaccine distribution, it appears about $8.098 million of the money has been spent or dedicated, leaving approximately $2.4 million. The building is expected to cost $400,000 or less.
While original guidelines initially required communities to use CARES Act funding before the end of 2020, an extension was granted by the federal government to allow the funds to be used until the end of 2021.