Rose M. Allen
Please tell us your name, age, where you live, and how you make your living.
Rose M. Allen, 62 years old. I am a 34 year resident of Euclid, currently living at North Pointe. I am a semi-retired pharmacist. I review projects as an independent contractor for the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, on an as assigned basis.
Describe for us the duties of a member of the County Council.
The charter states in Article III Section 3.01, “The Council shall be the legislative authority and taxing authority of the County and a co-equal branch of the County government with the executive branch.”
There are 12 powers and duties assigned to County Council. In order to stay within the word limit requested, I am listing only three of them that may be of greater interest to the residents of Cuyahoga County.
#2 The County Council will be responsible for establishing departments, divisions and sections of departments, board, agencies, commissions, and authorities the Council deems necessary for efficient administration of the County.
#3The County Council will establish procedures under which the County Executive may employ experts and consultants in connection with the administration of the affairs of the County.
#4 The County Council will establish procedures governing the making of County contracts and the purchasing of County supplies and equipment pursuant to competitive bidding.
Why do you want to serve on County Council?
I want to serve on county council to be sure that the county moves forward rapidly toward economic development that will generate the revenue to continue the support provided by county’s health and human services departments. I want to also make sure that we start marketing this area in way that will attract jobs, population growth and draw people to the recreational activities that Lake Erie and Cuyahoga County can provide. I would like to develop Cuyahoga County into an international manufacturing center for supplying and shipping via the Port of Cleveland, alternative/green energy components, such as wind turbine parts, solar panels, photovoltaic arrays, geothermal components and non-fossil fuels. Doing this would quickly provide thousands of decent paying jobs manufacturing American made products.
What qualifications do you bring that make you the most qualified?
From the economic development aspect, I currently am a member of the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force (GLEDTF). This task force has been meeting monthly for several years. Through the effort of the task force, work is already under way to place a test wind farm on Lake Erie by 2012. As a member of the task force, I am already helping to move projects forward and gaining valuable experience and knowledge that will be useful in moving the county forward.
From the health and human services aspect, I am a pharmacist with practical experience in the county’s justice center’s medical unit. As director of pharmacy, I implemented polices that established accountability for medications dispensed to inmates by nurses. That policy probably saves the county several thousand dollars monthly.
What will you do in your first weeks? Please describe in detail, to give our readers an idea of what this position will actually be like.
The first task at hand will be to work with other council members to elect a council president and vice president. After that, the council must start the process of determining what departments and divisions need to be kept or eliminated.
How, specifically, will we know that you are doing a good job?
You will know that I am doing a good job when I am able to engage in effective consensus building to garner support for projects that I would like to see move forward. I think that residents will be able to determine that I am doing a good job, when I am able to sponsor and pass legislation that puts into effect policies that will benefit the entire county, with full support of other council members.