Brown Reminds Trump of His Promises to Valley

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Mayor Jamael Tito Brown says when President Trump spoke at the Covelli Centre last year, his “words excited and inspired me because the president of the United States was promising to help make my vision for the city a reality.”

Brown released a letter he wrote yesterday to the president that recalled Trump’s promise to revitalize the Mahoning Valley economy. The mayor quoted the president’s statements that advised area residents not to sell their houses, that the region’s “once incredible job-producing factories…[are] all coming back. …We’re going to get those jobs coming back, and we’re going to fill up those factories or rip them down and build brand new ones. It’s going to happen.”

At the time, Brown was campaigning for mayor. Today, eight months into his term, “Economic conditions have deteriorated in the Mahoning Valley,” he writes.

“I am offering to do anything and everything I can to help you keep your word,” he told the president.

The mayor’s letter cites the elimination of the second shift at the General Motors Lordstown Complex, speculation that the automobile plant could be permanently shuttered, persistent high unemployment in the city and the metropolitan statistical area and the pending closure of Northside Medical Center.

Brown advises Trump that “every elected official in the region,” business, labor and community leader is ready to work with the president to help him keep his promises to the Mahoning Valley.

“It would be a healthy start if the local branch of the Veterans Administration could be relocated to the soon-to-be vacant Northside hospital,” he writes. “The VA Clinic here is inadequate, and now we have the perfect location for a much needed facility for our veterans.”

Brown’s letter concludes with his contact information. “I can be in Washington, D.C., with five hours notice,” he writes.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.