YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – In this week’s In-Depth segment, WKBN Community Affairs Director Dee Crawford sits down with Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown about an upcoming event in the city.

Brown is organizing a meeting of the “Ohio Black Mayors” on August 26. He says it will take place downtown, right on Phelps Street. An overnight stay and reception are also planned.

“It’s exciting for me when you have family and friends come visit you, and now my colleagues, the mayors of Ohio, [are] coming to Youngstown. It’s a good time for us to show them who we are and what we represent,” Brown said.

According to Brown, there are 11 Black mayors throughout the state of Ohio, including himself. He personally sent out invitations to each one, but only four have responded so far.

Brown hopes the city of Youngstown can put its best foot forward to show the mayors a great time.

“I think that’s what we want them to see when they walk away. [Be] like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that about Youngstown,’ and in a positive way,” Brown said. “I think once they have the food, they’ll have an opportunity to meet the people, and then the atmosphere that we provide for them will be a number one piece for us.”

Brown intends to show off the amphitheater, the Covelli Centre and the east and west ends of downtown.

“We’ll give them a great fix of what’s what here,” Brown said. “Also, I might have some questions that say can you help me with this scenario that I have that relates to housing or road construction? I’ll ask them many questions.”

The neighborhood heritage, football and boxing will be highlights, too. The river and steel mills will also be part of the local history lesson.

“I show people that we still have a river running through our downtown is like, wow, you know? So just talking about some of the potentials of the downtown,” Brown said. “They won’t leave without maybe some future questions or, you know, give them the opportunity to say, I want to go back to Youngstown and see what else is going on.”