Frack Amendment Loses, McNally Wins Mayoral Race
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Business leaders are praising Youngstown voters for defeating for the second time the anti-oil and gas, “onerous city charter amendment that could have set back economic development in the Mahoning Valley.
The issue was on the ballot topped by the race for mayor in which Democrat John McNally handily defeat independent DeMaine Kitchen and two other candidates in the race for mayor. McNally and Kitchen both opposed the charter amendment, which was defeated by 1,022 votes.
McNally’s margin of victory was 11.5% or 1,221 votes (READ RESULTS)
The charter amendment, called the Community Bill of Rights by its advocates, would have banned hydraulic fracturing within city limits. Opponents organized the Mahoning Valley Coalition for Job Growth and Investment, representing local business, labor, political and community leaders, to campaign against the amendment.
Following its defeat, the coalition released statements from some of its members.
Said Tom Humphries, president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, “Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley are poised to be the economic center for Ohio’s oil and natural gas boom. We’re already seen thousands of new jobs created here because of shale development, and industry analysts are predicting decades more of economic growth. The so-called Community Bill of Rights had the potential to take our Valley out of play during this very promising time,” Humphries said.
“This amendment was a jobs-killer,” said Butch Taylor, business manager for Local 396 of the Plumbers and Pipefitters. “Shale energy is bringing opportunity back to the Mahoning Valley and our members are finding good paying jobs because of it. The so-called Community Bill of Rights would’ve sent the wrong message about Youngstown’s workers. We want more jobs and opportunity, not less.”
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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