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LaBelle Neighbors gather for townhall

GREETING — Asantewa Anybwile, president of the LaBelle Neighbors Who Care organization, greeted Steubenville Mayor Jerry Barilla during a townhall meeting the organization held Thursday evening at the Steubenville YWCA. The organization hopes to hold quarterly townhalls to learn and to air issues in the community.

STEUBENVILLE — Mayor Jerry Barilla said he, like residents asking questions during a Thursday evening townhall meeting, wants answers to some basic questions about the city.

Barilla was the guest of the LaBelle Neighbors Who Care organization, which held a townhall session at the Steubenville YWCA.

Asantewa Anybwile, president of the organization, said, “We want to try to do this quarterly because we want people to know who we are as a community organization. We have been around since 1999, and we have done community programs throughout the years.”

Barilla asked the audience not to call him “mayor.”

“I’m a little disappointed in being mayor because I’ve lost my first name. My name is Jerry,” said Barilla, who took office in January. “My name is Jerry.”

Barilla told community members that the city stands to benefit by being midway between the ethane cracker at Monaca that is under construction and the proposed cracker in Belmont County.

“We can’t screw this up. We have potential and we have to get ready,” he said, advising young people in the audience that they don’t need a four-year degree to work in the plants that could come, but would need a technical degree.

“One day not too far along we will be on the rise as we once were,” he said.

Barilla also said he wants to work toward getting a grocery store downtown, figuring out how to get more use in Beatty Park in the South End and making sure activities occur at North End Field. He also said he wants to work toward having an historical marker at North End Field dedicated to Moses Fleetwood Walker, a black man who played professional baseball decades before Jackie Robinson, is buried in Union Cemetery and played ball at North End Field.

Barilla was asked questions about city finances, spending on recreation and parks, water rates and the appearance that some parts of town get more attention than others when it comes to issues such as patching potholes or tearing down burned-out structures.

Barilla concluded the evening exhorting the group to promote the city and to continue to be involved and work together.

“We have a gem but we are not saying it to anybody,” he said. “We have got to band together. We are not going to have help from outside.”

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