Trending
When former Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci Jr. brought the gavel down on his final City Council meeting, the curtain fell on a career of political involvement that spanned nearly 40 years.
Members of council at the time, January 2018, never formally had the chance to thank him for his service to the city and numerous community organizations -- they were tied up trying to help residents and businesses navigate through a crisis that left a large portion of the downtown without water for many days.
It's appropriate, then, that the current City Council recently honored Mucci not just once, but twice during the last several weeks. The first came when council voted to rename Steele Avenue, the location of his family's longtime business, Mucci Way, and the second happened when members on Feb. 23 presented him with a resolution recognizing his accomplishments.
Mucci's political career began in 1981, when he was elected as the city's 2nd Ward councilman. He moved into the council at large seat when W. Curtis Klein resigned in 1988 and became mayor in January 1993, when the late David Hindman stepped down from the post to become a Jefferson County commissioner. It was a post Mucci held until he decided to not seek re-election in 2017.
By his own estimates, Mucci attended more than 1,850 City Council meetings, presiding over more than 1,500. He also served as acting city manager several times along the way.
His work in the community always has gone beyond politics -- he was a member of numerous boards, clubs and organizations ranging from the Lions Club to the United Way of Jefferson County to the Community Improvement Corp. and the city health board. Those efforts have not stopped -- he recently agreed to be a part of the committee that will work toward the renewal of both the city's tax levies scheduled to appear on the May 4 ballot.
City Council had to make many tough decisions during the 36 years Mucci was involved. And, while he and the other members of council sometimes had heated disagreements, at the end of the day they always were willing to put the interests of the citizens of Steubenville first.
Mucci's resume includes nearly a page of honors he has received from organizations representing all parts of the community, including the Jaycees, Quinn A.M.E. Church, the NAACP and Theta Chi Alpha.
A couple of more lines have been added to that list, and the honors are well deserved.