With Mayor Jamael Tito Brown ending his time as the 51st Mayor of Youngstown in December, his successor announced his strategic approach for selecting key city leader department heads once he is in office. 

Mayor-Elect Derrick McDowell stated that he has been spending "countless hours" examining the tools Youngstown has to help decide what stays, what changes and what is needed to be created to meet the challenges of the city. Doing so, McDowell said, "allows us to have the clearest picture of where we need to go."

McDowell also promises the Youngstown residents that "we have the best possible team fighting for our shared future as we work to implement a shared vision of what a great Youngstown can be."

The news release states that the first immediate phase will include identifying the department heads comprising the Board of Control — Law Director and Finance Director — as well as identifying McDowell's Chief of Staff. He went on to state that he is currently interviewing candidates for the positions and hopes to have a decision made by Friday, Nov. 21.

With McDowell preparing to take office at the start of 2026, he spoke on his plans to keep his promises that were made throughout his campaign.

"I said throughout my campaign that transparency in government would be a priority of my administration. Since the election, I have been in the process of fulfilling that commitment, especially as I begin the important task of building out my cabinet," McDowell said.

McDowell explained that he is interviewing each current department head before making a decision. He also stated his efforts to continue in his promise of executing a deliberative, collaborative and transparent process.