Commissioner John McNally will run for Youngstown mayor - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – It's official. Mahoning County Commissioner John McNally is a candidate for Youngstown mayor.

McNally filed his petitions Monday morning with the Mahoning County Board of Elections to run as a Democrat.

He tells 21 News that there are a lot of great things happening downtown, and with the Mahoning Valley as a whole.

But McNally says if elected he would also make it a priority to focus on job creation in the city, and other efforts to take care of the neighborhoods.

"There's still a lot of work to do especially in the neighborhoods. You have to deal with the safety issues; you have to deal with the financial issues for the city of Youngstown. I think there are a lot of opportunities to find opportunities for people in the community. We need a lot of educational efforts, need a lot of job training efforts. I think we need to have a lot of work and interaction with businesses, like the banking community, to see what type of work they need in their business and make inroads with folks like Eastern Gateway and Mahoning and Columbiana Training Association, as well as the Mahoning Valley Manufacturer's Association to get efforts moving so that folks have the right skills for the right jobs," McNally says.

McNally, who is also an attorney, has served eight years as a Mahoning County Commissioner, and eight years with the city of Youngstown in the law department, including as the Law Director in 2003 and 2004.

Current Youngstown Mayor Chuck Sammarone has said in the past that he will not run for another term.