The Youngstown Professional Firefighters Local 312 union now has a new president.

According to a press release, Chris Weaver is set to fill the shoes of former union president Jon Racco, who has served as union president for the past three years.

In a statement, Racco said representing the union has been "one of the great honors of [his] career" and thanked fellow union members for their support.

"I know Chris will be on the right side of labor and continue the representation our members deserve," Racco said.

According to the release, Weaver brings with him over 20 years of union experience having previously served in many roles in functions on the executive board over the years.

Weaver tells 21 News he plans to move the department forward.

"This has probably been the worst we've had here in a long time, morale is bad," Weaver said. "So, with things moving forward I'd like to put a lot of this passed us, try to build a little bit of a working relationship with the fire chief, with the administration," he said.

Weaver said he has a good relationship with Fire Chief Barry Finley so he's cautiously optimistic about the future.

"Hopefully him and I we can communicate a little bit better hopefully," Weaver said. "I guess time will tell with that because now this is not personal, this is a business," he said.

Weaver also said this is bigger than just the fire chief and the fire union.

"It's not only just working with the fire chief, it's working with city council, the safety committee, finance committee, the mayor and stuff like that so it's a team effort," Weaver said.

Weaver said his first order of business is to set up a meeting with the chief in the near future to see if they can get a better line of communication going.