STEUBENVILLE — Ralph Petrella is no stranger to City Hall.

Growing up, he spent countless hours walking the halls of city government with his father, Craig, the longtime Second Ward councilman, learning everything from how city government works to how to run a meeting.

To be going back in a few weeks as mayor of Steubenville — well, he admits it’s more than a little surreal.

“But I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “These last couple of months I’ve been flooded with nostalgia, being back in council chambers … looking up and ‘seeing’ Mayor Domenick Mucci, Gary DuFour, Ladonna Delatore and Edward “Skip” Mixon … watching how they operated, how they spoke, how they loved their city — how they treated me as a child. They were never annoyed that I was around.”

Petrella will be sworn in next month as mayor after winning Tuesday’s election.

“It’s a bigger platform to serve more people, but I still want to do it in the same manner,” he said. “My dad always worked to help his ward, but he kept the whole city in mind. He was always thinking, ‘Are these funds going to help everybody?’ before he voted, or if a project would help not just his ward, but everybody in the city.”

He said there’s a lot to think about, pointing out people want their streets to be paved, buildings to be maintained and grass to be cut as well as wanting to see new businesses, industries and residents come into town — all while working with a budget that’s so tight some positions have gone unfilled.

“For instance, we’re down a lot of M&R guys,” he pointed out. “At one time, I think we had 17, now we’re down to about seven. People (still) want results — they want their city to be cleaned up, but if you’re cutting M&R guys, that’s hard to do. So, the budget is going to be really vital. I really think corporate collaborations are going to be something we’ll have to look into — selling naming rights. I’m OK with that, because we really have to be creative.”

He said finding a solution to the homeless situation in Steubenville is critical, saying he spent three hours at the Friendship Room recently talking with some of the city’s unhoused population. He said it was a learning experience — for instance, they told him there are “levels of homelessness: Street level, where you walk by the people in the doorway sleeping, but there are also ‘tent homeless’ that you don’t see; ‘bandos’ (people who are living in abandoned buildings); ‘car homeless,’ people living in cars; and ‘couch surfers,’ who are people staying with friends or family members as long they can.”

“There’s a large population of homeless people — just from what I’ve gathered with my own eyes, probably 200 at least,” he said. “And it’s a really complex situation.”

He said many are battling mental illness or addiction. Some said they’d like to get off drugs and would work if they could. Others don’t have any desire to change their ways.

“It’s a really complex situation, I don’t think we understand the complexity of it all,” he said. “And, I think we have a lot of work to do with individuals who want rehabilitation and we have to figure out what to do with individuals who don’t,” he said.

He said he learned a lot, “and they asked very good questions. It was very impactful to me, on a lot of levels. It’s a big part of our city that we need to address — they’re humans, they need to be treated with dignity. I think that’s a big part of it. They feel like sometimes they’re just treated like statistics — that’s a point of contention.”

Fixing what needs to be fixed won’t be easy, particularly with a budget as tight as Steubenville’s, Petrella explained.

“But we have to look at the overall recruitability of the city. We have to clean up abandoned lots and address homelessness, because those things hinder our ability to recruit new businesses, industries and people to the city. We have to clean it up, make it prettier, for them to want to come here. And, we have to find homes for people, because homelessness is dangerous to the people who are homeless and to others. And, we have to do it all within the budget.”

He said there is something he wants all residents to know he is ready to listen to their concerns.

“I’m a servant. I’m here for them, I’m available. I’m downtown, I’m easy to find and easy to recognize. If they need anything or if they have questions, reach out,” he said.

Petrella will succeed Jerry Barilla, who is leaving the post after eight years and was prohibited from seeking re-election by term limits.