Another mayor endorses Strickland
Democratic candidate already has Cincinnati nod
BY JOHN MCCARTHY | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS - Democratic candidate for governor Ted Strickland got another endorsement from a big-city mayor on Friday, snaring Youngstown's Jay Williams, who ran as an independent last year to become boss of the struggling former steel town.
That adds to Strickland's support from the mayors of Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo. Most of the mayors had withheld their backing until Strickland, a U.S. representative with an Appalachian district, assured them he would work to help Ohio's urban areas.
Two weeks ago, Strickland outlined a plan he said would revitalize Ohio's cities. It was formed with input from the state's mayors and includes their ideas on tax credits, investments in urban infrastructure, redeveloping downtowns and other issues, Strickland said.
"This plan was not developed in isolation. One of the reasons it was one of the latest pieces of our Turnaround Ohio Plan was that for a period of months, myself and others on my campaign worked with Ohio's big-city mayors," Strickland said Friday, the day he accepted Williams' endorsement. "I wanted to come up with something that was agreeable to all of them, each of them."
Strickland's plan would redevelop downtown areas by using private investment and federal grants, promote "wireless districts," create tax credits for businesses that develop urban areas and establish an office that would work to repair aging city streets and bridges.
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