Promises kept, abandoned
Mr. Trump fulfilled some promises he made in that speech, such as withdrawing from a pending Asian trade deal. But he abandoned others, including a pledge to punish China for allegedly manipulating currency values. Meanwhile, his administration also has proposed eliminating Community Development Block Grant funding, which benefits communities like Monessen.
“I think everyone in community development is concerned” by the proposed cuts, said Jason Togyer, a spokesman for the Mon Valley Initiative. The agency is helping to restore an old Monessen department store, Eisenberg’s, into 13 mixed-income apartments. “Without the federal money, that project would have been very difficult. There’s not a pot of money in places like Monessen.”
Mr. Mavrakis acknowledged his community needed help. “Give me $10 million to get rid of the blight. ... Instead of giving it to countries that hate us, give it to the communities that built this country.”
As to whether he was used in the course of the Trump visit, he said: “I don’t think so. I think I used them.”
Mr. Mavrakis has, in fact, become an unconventional celebrity. He boasts of having given 60 interviews to press from around the world, and says of ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, “Martha and I are very close.”
He cited last year’s purchase of the city’s 1960s-era municipal building by Canadian businessman Krishnan Suthanthiran as a windfall precipitated by the media attention.
Critics question the PR value of appearances in which, for example, Mr. Mavrakis told KDKA-TV, “If ISIS was to come to Monessen, they’d keep on going [because] they would think it was bombed already.”
“I’ve said to him, ‘You should be our biggest cheerleader,’ ” said city councilor Patricia Bukowski. “We have these problems, but we don’t have to have that on the front page of the paper.”
Realize the problem
Mr. Mavrakis makes no apologies. “In order to get something done, you have to realize that you have a problem,” he said. For decades, he said, “nobody has done anything for us, and along comes Trump.”
“If I don’t see anything [from Mr. Trump] in a year or two, then he’s just like the rest of them,” he said. But “I’ll deal with the Devil, as long as I can get something for the people I represent.”
Not long ago, Monessen’s monthly city council meetings drew headlines for profane exchanges, not to mention the time councilors had to restrain a 77-year-old colleague trying to confront a resident.
Such animosity was largely absent in April’s meeting. After a rocky first two years, Mr. Mavrakis has a friendly council majority, and many of the 50 residents on hand applauded a local bank’s contribution of land and an annex building for new city offices.
“Do we have any more good news?” Mr. Mavrakis asked at one point.
The meeting’s lone controversy surrounded the transfer of a dilapidated former bank building, 500 Donner Ave., to developer David Lamb for demolition.
Mr. Shorraw had proposed renovating the building and turning it into a music center and cafe with office space. The state Historic Preservation Office sent a letter to the city urging that it consider options other than demolition, but councilors were unimpressed. Councilman Ed Lea argued Mr. Shorraw’s proposal lacked solid financing and Mr. Mavrakis noted 500 Donner had been condemned years before.
“You could put $5 million into that building, and you’d have garbage and blight on all sides,” said the mayor. “Give me that money and I’ll demo the whole downtown.”
Mr. Shorraw said he wasn’t discussing 500 Donner as part of his campaign, but added, “We need to market our history and build on that. I go to places like Lawrenceville and they have that feel.”
He noted that one of Monessen’s assets is the Douglas Education Center, whose programs include Tom Savini’s Special Effects Makeup Program — the horror artist’s own school. But by most accounts, students typically spend their disposable income in nearby Belle Vernon or Pittsburgh. “There’s nowhere for them to go here,” Mr. Shorraw said. “We don’t have a coffeehouse.”
His campaign appeals to hairdresser Vonda Frezzell. Mr. Shorraw, she said, “is young and can make something happen.”
Nor did Mr. Mavrakis’ embrace of Mr. Trump impress her. “A lot of Democrats voted for Trump,” she said. “But he could care less about this town.”
Mr. Trump lost Monessen by a 56-41 margin. But in a town President Barack Obama carried by a 2-to-1 margin in 2012, that result is “unheard of,” said Mr. Mavrakis.
Some Mavrakis supporters see his invitation as a masterstroke, even if Mr. Trump ultimately disappoints. The return of steel “ain’t never gonna happen,” said Donald “Buzzy” Byron, a contractor and Mavrakis ally who once worked as a code-enforcement officer. “But there’s a lot of things coming from Lou doing those interviews.”
Mr. Lamb, for one, said Mr. Trump’s visit “wasn’t a decision-maker” in bringing him to Monessen. “But it gave me a bit of relief that with a national spotlight, good things could come.”
For now, though, the cameras that Danielle Volkar sees most often are those of Douglas students doing film projects.
“They say it’s a great place to film because it’s so dilapidated,” said Ms. Volkar, whose Any-Kind-A-Wear tailor shop specializes in anime and other costumes.
Ms. Volkar, who came to Monessen from New York City in 2002, said residents sometimes warm slowly even to changes that could add life to the area — like the striking purple paint job of her building’s facade. Still, she said, “There is so much knowledge here, so much pride. Things won’t go back to the way they were, but they cling to hope.”