County council candidates express views at League of Women Voters forum
Public employee ethics and transparency in county government were the themes of the day as the three candidates for the District 11 county council slot met with voters while fielding questions at a recent candidate’s night. The 11th District council position will represent Euclid, South Euclid, Richmond Heights., Lyndhurst, Beachwood and University Heights. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters and held at Brush High School Oct. 6, the three candidates found more to agree than disagree on as each fielded questions on topics ranging from the economy to the transition process for the county government. Each mentioned the need for ethics training by all elected officials and county employees as top priorities.
Two of the candidates, Sunny Simon (Democrat) and Kathryn Gambatese (Republican) seemed to reference the others’ comments on several occasions as both are experienced public officials having served on city council in their respective home cities. Simon, currently serving on the council of South Euclid, cited her experience in working with various groups to help bring about positive change in the city as a reason why she would be a good county council representative. Simon also has experience as a magistrate and is an attorney in private practice. Among the many challenges faced by the county, if elected Simon said one of her areas of focus would be on justice affairs with a specific focus on prisoner reentry efforts. She also intends on looking at areas of specific interest, including MetroHealth Hospital. “MetroHealth has people on the board that don’t know about the business of running a hospital,” said Simon.
Gambatese also cited her years on Richmond Heights council, as well as significant experience working with publicly funded entities in the area of health and human services – specifically in alcohol and drug rehabilitation – as evidence of her worthiness. Gambatese would leverage this experience in evaluating the county’s approach to health and human services-related issues as one area of focus if elected. She also mentioned the significant challenge faced by newly elected council members in helping to set the foundation for the new county government in the short term as one of her primary goals.
Following her long tenure on the Richmond Heights City Council, “I want to commit to helping make our county government work” as she looks to wind down her career in the public sector. “How the first four years of the new government go will set the path for how successful this governing body will be in the future.”
Richard Devor, Jr (Independent) is the lone candidate with no political experience, a factor he believes is in his favor as voters look for fresh faces after the recent corruption problems in Cuyahoga County. His interest in politics began two years ago culminating in his first run for public office this year. He currently works at Conrad’s Tire Center.
There were a few areas of disagreement among the candidates. While Gambatese and Simon both supported regionalism as a concept for governing Cuyahoga County and beyond, Devor was a bit skeptical about taking regionalism too far. “I’m not totally on board with the regionalism. When you take local issues out of the equation, the competitive factor is removed and then a city can’t compete against another and provide its advantages,” said Devor.
Another point of differentiation with the candidates was the role of government and its interaction with businesses. Gambatese and Devor thought that government should be supportive of business efforts, but generally stay out of the way so that businesses focus on growth and creating new jobs. “Government needs to get out of the way and eliminate those impediments to job creation,” said Gambatese.
Simon sees government and business working more in partnership with each other. “I don’t believe government has to get out of the way,” said Simon.
While each candidate voiced support for the new approach to county governance, they also cited issues that they would have liked to see changed. For example, the salaries of the County Council and the County Executive were seen as too high. The Executive position will earn $175,000 a year while council members will earn $45,000 with council president earning $55,000. Another problem with the council is that there are no at large members, an issue that Simon fears may lead to territorialism. Yet another issue is the limited role council plays in any executive-level hiring that will take place in the county.
The candidates all agreed that the transition team helping candidates prepare for their new positions were doing an outstanding job. They expressed hope that some of the transition members would continue to be part of the new organization once the election was over. The candidates viewed a key part of their role as being a check on the balance of power with the new county executive and their administration. “This new county position has the potential to create a leader that is potentially more powerful than the mayor of Cleveland,” said Simon.
“Council controls the purse strings so that’s a check on the power of the county executive,” added Gambatese.
The final candidates night sponsored by the League of Women Voters is Oct. 19 at Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event is being conducted in partnership with Cleveland State University.