8/3/2019 Fact Sheet for Roundtables
1/4
Local Government CollaborationThe Regional Chambers Government Affairs office is actively engaged in promotinglocal government collaboration and cooperation in the Mahoning Valley. During the
past three years, the Regional Chamber initiated efforts to form collaborative groups in
both Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Mahoning County Metro Leaders Roundtable Why was the Roundtable formed: To foster discussion on how local
government leaders can develop relationships, form trust and work together in
various ways and share information and services to save money and improve
the economic vitality of the area.
When was it formed: March 2008 and consists of government leaders from
Mahoning County Commissioners Office, Mahoning County Sheriffs
Department, cities of Youngstown, Canfield and Struthers, villages of Poland
and New Middletown and townships of Poland, Coitsville, Boardman,Austintown and Canfield.
Who leads the group: Boardman Trustee Brad Calhoun is chair of the
group. Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree is vice chair. Tony
Paglia, Regional Chamber vice president of Government Affairs, facilitates the
groups activities with the assistance of Shari Budge, Executive and
Government Affairs Coordinator.
Goals of the group:1. Developtrust, openness, and a commitment to work jointly to
solve common problems.
2. Commit to meet on a regular basis.
3. Be willing to embark on a long-term effort to improve cooperation
across jurisdictional boundaries and explore common problems.
4. Be creative and innovative in identifying solutions to these
problems, and to take the political risks associated with doing
things differently.
5. Work towards regional collaboration, which is defined as efforts to
look beyond community boundaries to partner with other
communities in sharing resources and talent.
Items that the Roundtable have worked on since March 2008:1. Joint purchasing/Purchasing consortiums (several presentations)
2. Storm water management districts
3. Health insurance consortiums
4. IT service sharing
5. Utility aggregation
6. 911 consolidation
8/3/2019 Fact Sheet for Roundtables
2/4
7. Efficientgovnow collaborative grant program
8. Energy conservation initiatives
9. Land use planning
10. Grant writing
11.Joint fire districts
Examples of successes:1. Mahoning/Youngstown Regional Information Network. Involves
a collaboration of Mahoning County, the cities of Youngstown and
Canfield and Boardman, Austintown and Canfield townships. The
network of six local and regional governments is connecting to
available multicounty broadband networks for the purpose of
providing three primary services: Access to critical information
assisting law enforcement agencies; General IT Services/Shared
Services; Disaster Recovery Services. Substantial gains in cost
savings and service provision can be achieved through sharing
common services among governments.2. Boardman-Austintown-Canfield Regional Storm Water and
Water District. The three communities have formed a regional
storm water and water district that will deal, first with storm water
flooding problems and eventually deal with drinking water supply
and cost.
3. Gas and Electric aggregation: Through information sharing, many
of our roundtable members put utility aggregation issues on the
ballot. The ability for a local government, representing all of its
residents and businesses, to negotiate a price with utilities has
resulted in significant savings for customers. The impetus for theactions came from Roundtable information sessions. Before we had
our sessions, Trumbull and Mahoning counties had the least
number of communities doing utility aggregation in NE Ohio and
probably the whole state. Now, just about every community is
involved.
4. Joint Fuel Purchasing: After several informational meetings
regarding ways to reduce gasoline and diesel costs through the
bidding process, some Mahoning County governments have
actually signed MOUs with Trumbull County, which approved a
joint purchasing contract for gasoline and diesel fuel in Aug. 2010.Those governments, including the city of Youngstown, are
piggybacking off of Trumbull Countys price.
5. Joint communications equipment purchasing: The large
townships of Boardman and Austintown jointly purchasing
communications equipment for their police and fire departments.
8/3/2019 Fact Sheet for Roundtables
3/4
They plan to create a joint dispatching district to operate their 911
centers and hopefully bring in other county PSAPS into the district.
Trumbull County Roundtable Why was the Roundtable formed: This was renewed effort to gain
commitments from local elected officials to work together on meaningful ways to
collaborative, cooperate, share services and find ways to reduce the costs of
government in Trumbull County.
When was it formed: September 2009 and consists of government leaders
from Trumbull County Commissioners Office, Trumbull County Sheriffs
Department, Trumbull County Engineers Office, Trumbull County Planning
Commission, the cities of Warren, Cortland, Niles and Girard and the townships
of Howland, Champion, Warren, Liberty, Vienna and Brookfield
Who leads the group: Tony Paglia is the group facilitator with assistance
from Shari Budge.
Goals of the group:
1. Developtrust, openness, and a commitment to work jointly to
solve common problems.
2. Commit to meet on a regular basis.
3. Be willing to embark on a long-term effort to improve
cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries and explore
common problems.
4. Be creative and innovative in identifying solutions to these
problems, and to take the political risks associated with doing
things differently.5. Work towards regional collaboration, which is defined as efforts
to look beyond community boundaries to partner with other
communities in sharing resources and talent.
Items that the Roundtable has worked since September 2009:1. Joint purchasing of fuel, road equipment and materials.
2. Health insurance consortiums
3. Efficientgovnow collaborative grant program
4. Energy conservation initiatives including replace streetlights with
LED lighting.
5. Streamlined site plan review process
6. E-government.
Examples of successes:
8/3/2019 Fact Sheet for Roundtables
4/4
1. Gas and Electric aggregation: Through information sharing, many
of our roundtable members put utility aggregation issues on the
ballot. The ability for a local government, representing all of its
residents and businesses, to negotiate a price with utilities has
resulted in significant savings for customers. The impetus for the
actions came from Roundtable information sessions. Before we hadour sessions, Trumbull and Mahoning counties had the least
number of communities doing utility aggregation in NE Ohio and
probably the whole state. Now, just about every community is
involved.
2. Joint Fuel Purchasing: After several informational meetings
regarding ways to reduce gasoline and diesel costs through the
bidding process, Trumbull County Commissioners sought bids and
approved a new gasoline and diesel purchasing contract. The
accepted bid is expected to save county departments between 10
and 30 cents a gallon. In addition, local governments and schooldistricts are piggybacking off of the countys price. Expected
savings annually would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
3. Joint Road Materials and Equipment: The Trumbull County
Engineer has instituted road materials and equipment purchasing
programs that will permit local governments to bypass their own
bidding and utilize the countys price for materials and equipment,
thus providing savings.
4. Unified Site Plant Review Commission: County officials have
worked to streamline the process for developers to work through
the site plan review process in the county. All county officials anddepartments involved in issuing permits and reviewing plans will
work through the commission to streamline and expedite site plan
reviews to make the process business friendly.