2023 Streetsboro Voter Guide: Meet candidates for mayor, council and school board
Welcome to the 2023 Streetsboro Voter Guide produced by the League of Women Voters and published by the Record-Courier.
There are numerous contested races on the Nov. 7 ballot, including Streetsboro mayor, two City Council ward seats and three seats on the school board. The school district also has a levy on the ballot.
The Ward 1 council race features three write-in candidates. The Ward 3 and 4 races are uncontested for Jennifer Wagner and Lisa McDaniel respectively. An unexpired term on the school board also is uncontested with Sara Scott running.
Early voting is taking place at the Portage County Board of Elections, 449 S. Meridian St. Ravenna, through Nov. 5.
Responses are not edited, vetted or corrected by the League of Women Voters or Record-Courier to allow candidates to speak in their own words.
Streetsboro City Mayor
Glenn M. Broska
Training & Experience: United States Marine Corp, USMC NCO School, Professional Firefighter and Paramedic-22 years, Mayor City of Streetsboro-12 years
Education: High School, Graduate Ohio Fire Executive, Some College
What is your vision for your community and how would you implement it? When I first ran for office, I had a vision to transform Streetsboro into a premier suburb. Since I first became Mayor in 2011, we have made steady progress towards evolving into a leading destination. We have removed blight along 14 by demolishing the abandoned structures and put up new attractive developments like Buckeye Quality Meats. We have added thousands of jobs with new corporate attraction, getting attention from international companies for headquarters. Our roads used to be terrible but now are free of potholes. Premier suburbs deserve premier amenities so we added a new Fire Station and are building a new Senior Center. We’ve done all of this with strong financial management and aggressive pursuit of grant dollars. Visions are long term goals but leaders must get multiple stakeholders to participate. With consistent and honest communication with the residents and council, we are seeing trust in city hall to do the right thing. It has taken some time for us to get here.
What do you see as the most important issue facing your City and how do you propose addressing it? Every city, and every person, must learn to adapt to change. No one saw the pandemic coming but we found ways to communicate with our companies to help keep them open. This change actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Manufacturing work cannot be performed remotely so we actually saw a bump in income tax collections. Sometimes big, scary negatives, can be a net positive with the right leadership. Whatever happens, though out of our direct control, we will face the issues head on and find a way to continue our evolution into a premier suburb.
Identify the challenges facing your City and your recommendations for solving them. We have addressed some of the legacy issues, like terrible roads and abandoned buildings. There is still work to be done, but we are on the right track. A major problem is the fact that we don’t have a city hall and rent in the industrial park. There will never be a time when we won’t have to physically house the administration of the city or have a place for the residents to voice concerns. We know we have to do this, and while it is expensive to build a new City Hall, it must be done. Otherwise, we run the risk of one day having a landlord that prices us out of the market. The most prudent financial decision we can make is to build a city hall. We have spent the taxpayer dollar wisely and made sure that the citizens were taken care of first when we completed projects like the new Fire Station, upgrading the parks or the construction of a new Community Center but we cannot ignore the fact that city hall must be in Streetsboro; we cannot be anywhere else.
Jeff Fejes
Candidate has not responded.
Mohammad A. Shaikh
Write-in candidate has not responded.
Streetsboro City Council Ward 1
Elect one from three write-in candidates.
Marianne Glenn
Training & Experience: I have 22 years experience as a small business owner managing properties, handling all aspects of finance, cost analysis and customer service. Prior to that I held several accounting positions.
Education: Bachelors Degree in Economics
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551463886704
What is your vision for your community and how would you implement it? My vision for my community is to create stronger connections between our residents and our city leaders by seeking out input from residents to build a sense of community-wide ownership. I want our residents to feel they are part of the decisions that are being made.
What do you see as the most important issue facing your City and how do you propose addressing it? The most important issue facing our city is allowing our city to grow, while preserving our small city appeal. It is my hope that our Downtown Core Concept Plan will come to fruition, to allow our residents a place to gather and connect and have a strong sense of community togetherness.
Identify the challenges facing your City and your recommendations for solving them. Our biggest challenges are traffic related, both in volume and unsafe driving practices. The recent completion of the State Route 14 widening project and the upcoming State Route 43 widening project will help with the flow of traffic. I’d like to see more patrolling of our intersections to improve the safety of our residents.
Chris Masowick
Candidate has not responded.
Joe Yonish
Candidate has not responded.
Streetsboro City Council Ward 2
Elect one.
Anthony R. Lombardo
Candidate has not responded.
Chris Yonish
Website: Chrisyonish.com
What is your vision for your community and how would you implement it? My vision is to see our community continue to grow and be a place where people want to move to and raise their families! How I’d implement that is by continuing the work I’m doing on the PRCAC, CRA and TIRC committees. Also, by being involved in the community and hearing what our residents want and need and finding out ways to justifiably support and bring them to fruition!
What do you see as the most important issue facing your City and how do you propose addressing it? Right now, I believe our most important issue is transparency and engagement. How I plan to address being a councilman of my ward is to be out and engaged with not only my ward but the community as a whole. That’s the thing I love about coaching and volunteering for the schools and city, being face to face. That’s how you get the people bought into the leadership running their city by standing with them!
Identify the challenges facing your City and your recommendations for solving them. Some challenges we face as a community to me are not having that walkable “downtown” area where folks can go an enjoy the outdoors while having retail stores accessible. Also, not having a city center/city hall is big one for me. That boils down to continuing with our master plan and providing a roadmap to get there!
Streetsboro School Board (full term)
Elect three.
Tracy Campbell
Education: Graduate of St Peter Chanel High School
Training & Experience: Seasoned HR professional. SCS Board of Education member (2020-2023) - Currently serving as Board President; Streetsboro Community PTA - Board President (2010-2018) and current board member of our Educational Foundation.
What are the current challenges facing your school district and how would you address them? Finances - State funding of our schools in Ohio places most of the financial burden on the taxpayers/residents in our city. I will continue to explore alternatives to make the most efficient use of our resources by engaging our administrators to find ways to achieve cost savings without adversely affecting critical educational programming. State report card – Our district received a much-improved score, however there is still much work to be done. Setting clear and realistic expectations for our administrative team is key. Recruitment and retention of staff – Working to provide competitive salaries along with mentorship and professional development opportunities while adhering to our budget remains a focus. Community engagement – The success of school districts weighs heavily on the creation of positive relationships with all stakeholders. We need to be committed to hosting informational events like an annual State of our Schools – this would allow us a venue to promote our successes and be an opportunity for our stakeholders to learn about their investment, ask questions and discuss concerns. Also, I believe that we need to continue working on partnering with our city leaders to promote a strong city-school relationship. We need to look at how many resources can be shared. This can only strengthen our district with its connection to the community.
How would you be an effective school board member? Being a board member requires continuous learning and it is also about building relationships and prioritizing the needs of our students. I will continue to increase my knowledge of educational and financial needs/challenges; this is an area where learning never stops as things change rapidly. I am committed to providing transparency and collaborating with the administrative team. It is important that our stakeholders’ concerns are heard. I will continue to hold myself, our board members and administrative team accountable for their actions and decisions.
What is the responsibility of a board member in addressing emerging controversies? Board members collaborate with the Superintendent and administrative team focusing on the best interests of the district. It is important for us to be informed, maintain objectivity, have a commitment to fairness, and bring in resources when needed. If a controversy arises, we should communicate and provide transparency to our stakeholders.
Tonia Epple
Education: Bachelors Degree in Business from Bowling Green State University
What are the current challenges facing your school district and how would you address them? Our district, along with many others, has a lack of substitute teachers and bus drivers. We need to offer competitive pay and possibly add an incentive program to attract more interest in these positions. Our district has done a good job applying for grants to fund programs and resources that we need. I would push for us to apply for more, so our faculty has the best programs, teaching aids, and resources available to them.
How would you be an effective school board member? I was appointed to the Streetsboro City School Board in August to fill a vacated seat. Since my appointment, I have met with almost all the principals in the district to speak with them about the wonderful programs they are implementing and find out where we have opportunities. If I am elected in November to continue with the board for an additional 4 years, I plan to grow those relationships with the administrators. I would like to be a part of their goal setting and help them achieve those goals. I would use skills from my professional career as an analyst to make sound decisions regarding district spending. For the past 15 years I have been an involved community member. Continuing to be engaged with parents and staff will help us achieve the goal of educating our children to be successful in their lives past graduation.
What is the responsibility of a board member in addressing emerging controversies? The responsibility of the Board of Education is to support the community in a healthy and safe manner. Board members should approach any controversy with an open mind, do research and educate themselves, and then form their opinion. They should have discussions with other board members and come to a consensus on how to move forward.
Jaime Jordan
Candidate has not responded.
Eric S. McDaniel
Candidate has not responded.
Kelly J. Rich
Education: Bachelor of Science in Business specializing in Human Resources Management. Leadership Portage County. OTA Grant Writing workshop/seminar
Training & Experience: Accounting, banking, and human resources. For the past nine years I have been employed at an Aerospace company. I manage accounts receivable and accounts payable, the budget, maintain fiscal responsibility, process payroll, and employee benefits.
What are the current challenges facing your school district and how would you address them? Safety is my utmost concern not only for students, but faculty as well. Increasing police presence with additional SRO officers as well as police presence in all activities, not just football games. This comes at a fiscal cost, but to weigh it against the deterrent of a catastrophic event is well worth it. Obtaining grants that will support salaries of additional officers provides time to reevaluate budgeting issues when it becomes the responsibility of the district to absorb the cost at the end of the grant. This can be achieved by evaluating the current budget and tightening or simply moving funds around. This year I was very happy to see that Streetsboro schools received a higher rating. This shows continued efforts put forth by the students with the support and guidance of the faculty and administrators. Success is a collaborative effort and with all of us working towards the same goal furthers our chances of success and attaining our academic objectives and that in turn has a positive affect within our school district and community. As part of the Board, we need to foster a positive learning environment that will allow our children the opportunity and chances to continue to achieve, excel and succeed.
How would you be an effective school board member? Being an effective board member, by supporting the community, engaging, and interacting with businesses and the city to support open communication and interaction on both sides. Understanding that every person brings experience, opinions, ideas, and a reason for what they ask or need from a Board Member. Collaboratively working with Faculty, The Board and Superintendent, on issues as they arise. Being available to parents and faculty to address concerns and not ignoring the issue(s). Respecting the foundation of those that have been part of the Board and are currently serving would be an honor, they have set objectives, achieved many and work with a community minded goal and that is something that I want to be a part of.
What is the responsibility of a board member in addressing emerging controversies? The responsibility of a board member when dealing with emerging controversies is leadership, sometimes the hard decisions must be made. I will ensure I will be consistent, fair, and my performance will be based on fact and justified through policy and procedures, and everyone is treated equally. Collaborating with my fellow Board Members and the Administration, we will arrive at a decision that will be a fair and equitable solution for everyone.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 2023 Streetsboro Voter Guide: Mayor, council, school board on ballot
