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"Consultant Needed to Sort Out Moving Issues, Reese Says"
"By George NelsonYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Before deciding where to relocate the Department of Job and Family Services and Child Support Enforcement Agency, Mahoning County should bring in a consultant, Commissioner Ed Reese said today. "I'm trying to touch all the bases," he said in an interview following the Board of Commissioners' regular meeting. At the meeting, Robert L. Ferguson, chairman of the board of directors for Southside Community Development Corp., submitted a letter asking the county to hire an outside consultant to analyze any proposals submitted for the project. Cuyahoga County officials hired a consultant to evaluate proposals for an upcoming relocation of some of that county's offices. Mahoning County officials received information from Cuyahoga officials this morning regarding the process they went through, Reese said. Southside CDC recently submitted a proposal to Mahoning County officials for the departments at Oakhill Renaissance Place in Youngstown, which it operates. Another prospective site, recently arisen, for the two county agencies is the Phar-Mor Centre downtown. Youngstown Councilman Richard Atkinson (R-3), at the meeting, supported the Phar-Mor proposal because if downtown Youngstown doesn't come back, he said, the city doesn't come back.Relocating the agencies isn't a simple matter, Reese noted. The county couldn't contract to lease space from a private property such as Phar-Mor or a not-for-profit entity such as Southside CDC without going through a formal bidding process. Bids wouldn't be required to enter into an agreement with a public entity, however. The county has to consider a variety of potential options for the relocation, Reese said, including whether to go into partnership with Youngstown on developing a larger scale project, developing something in conjunction with the convocation center to be built downtown, or bring other offices in leased space -- such as the board of elections -- into a larger county project. "If we're going to do this, let's do it right," Reese declared. "Courtroom overcrowding has always been an issue. [Clerk of Courts] Tony Vivo has boxes out in the halls. So do we put the county auditor, do we put the treasurer and the recorder in this new building?"Although the issue seems more complex than he thought before this morning's meeting, Ferguson said the letter he submitted "makes even more sense now recognizing that there are a variety of competing proposals and different interests." Contact George Nelson at [email protected]"