Port Authority Chairman Resigns Amid Discord
VIENNA TOWNSHP, Ohio -- The Western Reserve Port Authority’s chairman, attorney James Floyd, is the latest member of the troubled board to tender his resignation.
In a letter to Mahoning County Commissioners dated May 14, Floyd, who became its chairman in January, submitted his resignation “with regret” from the board as both chairman and member. The resignation was effective following yesterday’s meeting of the port authority board.
Neither Floyd’s resignation nor the increasing divisions within the board were discussed at the board’s monthly business meeting yesterday, during which it approved a contract for construction of a new T-hangar at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. Last month, Richard Schiraldi resigned from the port authority board, followed earlier this month by longtime member and former chairman Scott Lynn.
Following the meeting, Floyd cited the demands of his law practice as his reason for stepping down from the board. He is an attorney with the firm of Newman, Olson and Kerr in Youngstown.
“I sincerely appreciate the confidence and trust you provided to me to be of service” as a port authority board member for the past 3½ years, Floyd wrote in his two-paragraph resignation.
Discord within the board and port authority staff has intensified to the extent that the Mahoning and Trumbull boards of commissioners, which appoint the port authority’s eight members, are investigating their options with respect to the body, which they see as dysfunctional. Several commissioners favor dismantling the current board and establishing a new board.
“Jim was a really good person. The board will miss him and we certainly wish him success going on,” remarked Ron Klingle, the port authority’s vice-chairman, who joined the port authority board in January. He also praised the other members who have left the board over the past month.
Klingle, who said he had learned about Floyd’s resignation just before taking a call from The Business Journal yesterday afternoon, said the board members would need to discuss whether he will advance to the board’s chairmanship. The port authority “has a lot of work to do and I’m personally very optimistic about all that we’re going to be able to accomplish going forward,” he said.
“These things happen,” Klingle continued. “I’m sure commissioners will replace the individuals who are no longer with us with other very qualified people.” The port authority “has had its problems over the years” but the remaining board members are “very, very qualified to be in the position that they’re in,” he added. With the new members who will be arriving should commissioners elect to replace them, “we will have a very, very good chance of creating a port authority that can be very, very effective,” he said.
During the Wednesday’s business meeting, the board moved forward on construction of the second of three new T-hangars at Youngstown. The board approved awarding a contract for $570,000 to Adolph Johnson & Son Co., Mineral Ridge, which built the t-hangar constructed in 2012, to construct the building. Farmers National Bank will provide financing for the project.
The airport’s director of aviation, Dan Dickten, told board members that 11 of the 14 spaces in the new T-hangar building already have been leased, including several to new tenants at the airport. The port authority is awaiting receipt of a federal grant to pay for a related taxi lane project before that work gets under way. Dickten said he hopes to have the building constructed and occupied by the end of October.
“T-hangar A of course is 100% full. All 14 units were leased before we even stuck a shovel in the ground two years ago,” Dickten said. “We think we’ll have no problem getting the other three units leased here before the new building is complete.”
The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with Mahoning County rescinding its prior MOAs regarding its proposed involvement in the purchase of a new county animal shelter building. Under the terms of the MOA, the port authority will assign its winning bid for the Meridian Road building proposed for the shelter to Mahoning County and will be refunded the $25,000 it paid at auction.
The issue had been a source of contention between Floyd and board member Don Hanni III, who accused Floyd of acting improperly in the transaction. Hanni previously had also called attention to board member Scot Lewis’ role in a real estate deal involving airport property.
Following an executive session called to discuss “pending litigation” that lasted more than an hour, a motion to approve an MOA with Rubenstein Associates in Liberty Township and pay the firm $14,000 for its work beginning in February failed. Floyds has signed the MOA with the firm Jan. 31. The board then voted to authorize Klingle to negotiate with Rubenstein and report to the board with any action to be taken.
BACKGROUND:
Mahoning Commissioners Favor Dismantling WRPA
Amid Port Authority Discord, Counties to Discuss Options
Settlement Ends Ethics Probe of WRPA Director
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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