YOUNGSTOWN — Two longtime Youngstown council members — Mike Ray and Anita Davis — will face each other in the May 6 Democratic primary for council president, a position with very limited power.

But Ray, D-4th Ward, and Davis, D-6th Ward, say they want to change that.

The president runs city council meetings, but doesn’t get a vote.

Also, the president becomes mayor and fills out the unexpired term if a vacancy occurs. That happened once in the city’s history when Jay Williams left in August 2011 to work for the administration of then-President Barack Obama and Charles Sammarone, council president at the time, became mayor.

Democrat Tom Hetrick, who is serving his first four-year term as council president, decided not to seek reelection this year.

Regarding council president, Ray said, “This position could be utilized differently than it has been. You look at some policy initiatives or some things where council in the minutia of legislation and the administration in the day-to-day operations, how do we bridge the gap and work on some things that we know just fall to the wayside? Zoning — we passed the redevelopment code in 2013. It’s over 10 years old now. I feel that with the experience of being around for four terms, leveraging that experience to do different things and connect those and work on those special projects that do affect people citywide.”

Ray, a councilman since 2010, said: “The perspective of working with council and trying to bridge some of that gap between the administration” to “get that consensus and helping set some priorities” is a vital part of being council president.

Davis said she wants to see the job of council president restructured to have “a place at the table of every administration,” and “be in the administrative loop like a vice mayor or vice president would be kept informed.”

Whether she wins or loses, Davis said she will seek to put a charter amendment before city voters to enhance the power of council president.

If that charter amendment failed, Davis said she would seek to eliminate the council president position as an elected post. That also would require voters to approve a charter amendment.

In that scenario, Davis said, the president of council would be selected from the seven council members on a rotating basis, chairing council meetings and not be in line to fill a mayoral vacancy.

Davis, a councilwoman since 2016, said: “I debated running for it because it was like what’s the best way to get people to understand I want the position eliminated not for anything personal. I felt that if I had the seat and I’m campaigning for it then it looks less like I’m going against someone else. That’s the whole thing. If I don’t win this election, I will still push for the elimination of this seat or the total restructuring of it. But at least people would understand that this is not a personal thing of sour grapes.”

She added: “It has to be done away with or seriously restructured. As it is right now, we could do that internally. Hopefully people will like to see it restructured rather than done away with because it could have a legitimate role.”

Hetrick recommends the elimination of the position as a separate elected office and having members of council select a president from among themselves.

Ray said the power of the position needs to be enhanced or the post eliminated. But until either is done, Ray said other changes could be made to council president.

One proposal would be to have the president serve on council committees as an ex-officio member to offer a voice. That would require council’s approval.

“My role is building consensus and getting folks on board on the body so being able to do that I think I can kind of be that negotiator and run efficient meetings and get more bang out of office, especially with these technology upgrades, as council president,” Ray said.

Ray also suggests council should have work sessions, which the council president would run, to set the legislative body’s agenda and priorities.

“When you just meet to kind of do battle, we’re missing that opportunity to build consensus and people tend to work on their own agendas and their own priorities,” Ray said. “We can function better as an organization if you have someone who is serving the whole city in the capacity of president of council. Obviously, the body has to agree. But getting the body together in a meeting where we could do some of that housekeeping business could be effective.”

Early voting starts April 8.

The deadline for independent candidates to file for the seat is May 5, the day before the Democratic primary. Tracy Randall, the only Republican to file for council president, didn’t qualify because she lacked enough valid signatures.

Candidates for

Council president

MIKE RAY

Age: 48

Occupation: TRC operations manager and 4th Ward councilman

Previous elected experience: Youngstown 4th Ward councilman since 2010

Goals: Ensuring residents feel safe in their homes, strengthening public safety and leveraging technology

ANITA DAVIS

Age: 71

Occupation: Youngstown 6th Ward councilwoman and retired Youngstown police detective sergeant

Previous elected experience: Youngstown 6th Ward councilwoman since 2016

Goals: To restructure the role of president of council and if that fails, remove council president as an elected position.