Mayor's defeat may spell end of 'Monessen Rising'

A controversial plan to transform Monessen's blighted neighborhoods into an art colony may have been dealt a death blow when its chief proponent, the city's mayor, was trounced in Tuesday's primary election.

Mayor Mary Jo Smith lost by a 2-to-1 margin to former United Steelworkers official Lou Mavrakis, 75, in the race for the Democratic nomination.

In November, Mavrakis will face Robert Zynosky Jr., 48, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Monessen, a town of 7,700 along the banks of the Monongahela River, has been a Democratic stronghold for decades.

Both men said Wednesday that they will not support the redevelopment plan dubbed “Monessen Rising.”

“Monessen Rising is dead,” Mavrakis said.

Zynosky said he can't support the project because its backers insist public funding must be in place before private investors will come aboard.

“If private financing can fund it, then fine,” he said. “But I would not solicit state funds.”

The plan, the brainchild of Staten Island, N.Y., developer George Christo and real estate attorney R. Randy Lee, has sharply divided the community.

Christo said he stumbled upon Monessen when looking for affordable investment properties and later talked with local officials about the revitalization plan.

Critics have been suspicious of the pair's motives while backers have lauded their plan to buy tax-delinquent properties from the county and then resell them to artists looking for affordable places to live, work and sell their wares.

On Wednesday, Christo would not predict how Smith's loss would affect the plan.

“I really have nothing to say to you,” Christo said when contacted while driving back to Staten Island after spending Election Day in Monessen.

Lee did not return calls seeking comment.

In the past, Christo has said he will work with whoever is in office.

Last month, however, he exchanged heated words with Mavrakis and his supporters in the City Hall parking lot before a Monessen Rising meeting.

Mavrakis hammered Christo about the two dilapidated buildings he owns in the city.

Christo purchased a former department store and clothing factory, both of which are in serious disrepair, according to city officials.

“I wanted Christo to fix up his buildings. Then we could talk,” Mavrakis said.

Christo and Lee also face some changes on city council.

Newcomers Patricia Foster Bukowski and John Scott Nestor won the Democratic nomination, defeating incumbent Democrats Martin Dudas and William J. Manus, who had supported the revitalization plan. Bukowski is a professed skeptic of Monessen Rising.

Nestor could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

No candidates ran on the Republican ticket, virtually assuring Bukowski and Nestor of victory in the November general election unless someone mounts a successful write-in campaign.

The city has a four-person council and a voting mayor.

Council members Lucille D'Alfonso and Josh Retos were not up for re-election.

D'Alfonso has supported Monessen Rising, but Retos has voiced doubts about the implementation of the project, possibly giving a voting majority to those opposing the plan.

“We have another seven months before we take office,” Bukowski said. “I don't know what they're going to do in the meantime. I just hope they realize people didn't like what's being done.”

Monessen Redevelopment Authority Chairman Ronald Tuman said the authority will work with any city official committed to revitalizing the community.

“The whole landscape will change now, so will it (Monessen Rising) go forward?” he said. “I don't know. I hope at least part of it will. The intent was to help bring Monessen out of the ashes.”

John Harhai, the city administrator hired during Smith's tenure as mayor, is the executive director of the authority.

Harhai said he did not have any comment about the future of Monessen Rising.

Kate Wilcox is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-836-6155 or kwilcox@tribweb.com.