Ralph Petrella

The Nov. 4 general election is pitting Republican Ralph Petrella, son of a longtime city councilman and a small business owner, against write-in candidate Chuck Burch, a lifelong city resident. The winner will take the gavel from two-term Mayor Jerry Barilla, who is barred from running again by term limits.

It’s the first venture into local government for both men.

Petrella, 37, said he “really wants to make an impact in our community.”

“I want to be a guiding light for the younger generation,” he said. “I believe we need more youth in politics and I’m excited for the opportunity to serve our citizens if I’m elected.”

Chuck Burch

Petrella said he spent a lot of time at city hall with his late father, Craig, who spent four terms as Second Ward councilman during a 34-year period. He sees it as a “generational” legacy of service to the city.

“I’m really excited to be following in my dad’s footsteps as a leader and a public servant,” he said. “It’s really important to me.”

The mayor doesn’t vote, unless there’s a tie, so his power to shape policy is limited.

What he can do, Petrella said, is “set up the committees in a way to help unify our processes of making ordinances and resolutions.”

“I want to be an example of being a strong leader and being able to be vocal during council meetings, being able to ask questions and settle disputes among our council when there are passionate exchanges between them,” Petrella said. “And, I want to make sure the concerns and requests of our citizens are being addressed through council by asking them to do their job at the highest level.”

He said city officials must “make sure we’re doing everything we can to be good stewards of our finances by looking for creative ways to increase our budget.”

“Whether it’s through corporate collaborations or finding grants, I think funding is our greatest challenge right now,” he said. “Our second greatest challenge is creating great experiences for our citizens so we can generate civilian retention–giving people memories of the Steubenville they love. It’s really going to help keep people here and keeping them here is vital to our future. If we keep losing our citizens to other areas, we’re really going to struggle.”

Petrella, who resides at 1665 Moreland Drive, owns Syna Strength and Wellness. It’s located in the downtown business district, inside the Masonic Temple on North Fourth Street, which Petrella said is important for him.

“We wanted to put our money where our mouth is,” he said. “If we’re going to be mayor and the downtown is going be part of a huge revitilization, then we needed to be part of it personally. I think it really shows how much I believe in Steubenville and what we’re doing in Steubenville, that we’re willing to move our business here.”

Burch, 53, said he decided to throw his hat in the race because residents need a voice.

“I want to clean the city up and try to get more businesses downtown,” Burch said. “And, I want to build recreation up again — there’s nothing around here for youth to do at all.”

Burch said the mayor’s powers are limited.

“I know I don’t get to vote, I know I don’t get to bring (legislation) up there,” he said. “But I can make recommendations, and I can work with the council members. I know the mayor doesn’t have a vote, but I can work with members of council and see what the community wants. The mayor can’t vote; the mayor really doesn’t have any power — all a mayor can do is sit there and be a body, break a tie.”

He said he’d also like to pursue “more grant money for the theater (Grand Theater) downtown and just try to help the city in general.”

A resident of 1320 Arlington Ave., Burch is project manager for Gator Roofing.

“There’s nothing for the youth to do around the city at all, nothing,” he said. “When I was a kid there were lots of things for kids — we had a skating rink, parks and two pools — we have one now. I’d like to see Piece of Pie Park opened back up for kids on that side of the hill. They closed it down because of a shooting and you have one individual who always complains about the park. Three weeks ago, there were four little kids in that park passing a football around — they weren’t doing drugs, they weren’t shooting guns. They were playing and having a good time, and he called the police on them.”

Burch said closing parks isn’t going to fix anything.

“There are shootings everywhere, what are you going to do, close the city down? Drugs are everywhere, shootings are everywhere,” he added.

“We have to have something for youth; the youth are the future,” he said. “If you don’t have something for them, people don’t want to live around here. I want to make it so people want to stay here and raise their kids in Steubenville. We don’t have any banks downtown, there’s no grocery store or anything … We need to bring Steubenville back to life.”