You may also count Lake County Recorder Ann Radcliffe as another person who has ruled out an interest to receive an appointment as Lake County commissioner in January.

“I am very happy serving as the county Recorder and this is where I would like to stay for many years to come. After two years in office I can still say that I am not a politician but a full time hands-on Recorder who works with the staff and will continue working to meet the needs of the public," Radcliffe said.

Commissioner Robert E. Aufuldish has served the past 18 years as commissioner and announced Nov. 18 that he would not seek re-election in 2016 and he would resign effective Dec. 31. The Lake County Democratic Party Central Committee will appoint a new commissioner in January.

So far, Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO and Laketran Trustee President Kevin Malecek is the only person to publicly announce a candidacy. Malecek also is a former Willoughby Hills councilman.

Others who sources say are in the mix are state Rep. John Rogers; Common Pleas Court Judge Joe Gibson, who term ends this year and couldn’t run for re-election due to age limits; Clerk of Courts Maureen Kelly; Mentor Councilman Matt Donovan; and Concord Township Trustee Paul Malchesky.

John Arthur Hutchison
JHutchison@News-Herald.com
Twitter: @newsheraldjah

Lake County Treasurer Lorraine M. Fende said she is not interested in a potential appointment as Lake County commissioner.

"When I ran for treasurer, I made a commitment to the residents of Lake County to pursue the collection of delinquent taxes and I would be remiss in my duties as an elected official if I didn't keep that promise," Fende said.

Commissioner Robert E. Aufuldish has served the past 18 years as commissioner and announced Nov. 18 that he would not seek re-election in 2016 and he would resign effective Dec. 31. The Lake County Democratic Party Central Committee will appoint a new commissioner in January.

So far, Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO and Laketran Trustee President Kevin Malecek is the only person to publicly announce a candidacy. Malecek also is a former Willoughby Hills councilman.

Others who sources say are in the mix are state Rep. John Rogers; Common Pleas Court Judge Joe Gibson, who term ends this year and couldn’t run for re-election due to age limits; Clerk of Courts Maureen Kelly; Recorder Ann Radcliffe; Mentor Councilman Matt Donovan; and Concord Township Trustee Paul Malchesky.

John Arthur Hutchison
JHutchison@News-Herald.com
Twitter: @newsheraldjah

A new era began in Lake County after Judy Moran was sworn-in Tuesday as the first Democratic female commissioner in the county’s 172 years of history.

Moran, formerly Willowick Council’s president, now is the second woman to serve as a Lake County commissioner. Republican Mildred M. Teuscher was the first woman to serve as a commissioner before retiring in January 2003.

Democratic Party women in Lake County also have fared well in recent elections including winning four positions at the county level on Nov. 6.

Lorraine M. Fende won election as treasurer, Ann M. Radcliffe was elected recorder, and Maureen G. Kelly was re-elected to her second term as clerk of courts.

When Kelly was first elected in 2008, she became the first Democrat in 40 years to be elected to the position and the first Democratic woman to serve as clerk.

As for other candidates who will appear on the ballot this year, only one race in the county is eligible to have a partisan primary in May — Mentor Municipal Court judge.

Judge John Trebets has served as the court’s judge after he was first elected to a six-year term in 2001 and then re-elected in 2007.

The filing deadline to run as a candidate for Mentor Municipal Court judge is Feb. 6 and if there was a primary it would be held May 7 along with any special election involving issues such as school levies.

Nonpartisan races for the Nov. 5 General Election have until Aug. 7 to file nominating petitions with the county Elections Board. Some candidates have already taken out petitions.

Strickland nearing decision?

Look for some development in the next few weeks on who could be the Democratic Party’s 2014 candidate for Ohio governor.

Democrat sources say that former Gov. Ted Strickland is being vetted for a potential position in President Barack Obama’s administration, especially after Strickland played a vital role as an Obama surrogate during the presidential campaign.

If that doesn’t happen, it’s quite possible that Strickland may throw his hat into the ring to challenge incumbent Gov. John Kasich, setting up a possible rematch.

The race between Strickland and Kasich in 2010 was fairly close, so it might be interesting to see the two battle once again.

If Strickland declines to run, many think that Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald will decide to seek the party nomination.

Coming from Ohio’s largest county, FitzGerald likely would do well in Northeast Ohio, but it’s not certain how he would fare in other areas of the state where his name is not as well-known as someone like Kasich or Strickland.

Other names often tossed around as potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates are U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles; and Richard Cordray, former Ohio Attorney General and treasurer, who now serves as director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

To the brink

Once again, the country was led down the path of brinkmanship when Congress passed legislation by a vote of 257-167 Tuesday night to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

All five House Democrats from Ohio voted in favor and Ohio’s House Republicans split, six voting in favor and seven against.

Those voting in favor were Democrats Marcia Fudge, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan and Betty Sutton, and Republicans John Boehner, Bill Johnson, Steve LaTourette, Robert Latta, Steve Stivers, and Pat Tiberi.

Members who voted against the legislation were Republicans Steve Austria, Steve Chabot, Bob Gibbs, Jim Jordan, Jim Renacci, Jean Schmidt and Michael Turner.

As for LaTourette, he leaves his post during an unusually busy final few days of his term. Now U.S. Rep. David P. Joyce, R-Russell Township, who was sworn-in Thursday, will represent Ohio’s 14th Congressional District.

A Sutton move?

There has been some rumblings that Sutton, D-Copley, who is now a former U.S. Rep. who lost a bitter battle on Nov. 6 against Renacci, R-Wadsworth, might consider a move to Ohio’s 14th Congressional District to potentially run again for Congress in 2014. However, local sources say it appears that’s not likely to happen.

John Arthur Hutchison

JHutchison@News-Herald.com

Twitter: @newsheraldjah

As the year 2012 comes to a close it’s time to take a look back at the career of a retiring Lake County official.

For Commissioner Raymond E. Sines, his last official meeting after 10 years on the board was Thursday.

Sines has served since he was appointed by the Lake County Republican Party in 2003, and then won two elections to four-year terms.

During his time in office, he was the lone Republican on the three-member Board of Commissioners.

Sometimes Sines didn’t agree with his Democratic colleagues on the board, but what I think made him effective was that he choose his battles carefully.

He was the kind of commissioner who could sternly make his point during an open session and even staunchly disagree with a colleague, then crack a joke about the situation when the meeting was over.

Sines occasionally would say it takes two votes to get something passed by commissioners, which is certainly true. With that in mind, he had the understanding that no matter his opinion, there were two other commissioners who might not agree with him. So he had to work together with his fellow colleagues.

Even though he disagreed on some issues, including building a high-level bridge over Vrooman Road in Leroy and Perry townships or the creation of the Lake County Stormwater Management Department, Sines’ influence was noticeable.

I think his ability to be reasonable when it came to making decisions and his work ethic also made him effective.

When it came time earlier this year for the commissioners to announce a plan to increase the countywide sales tax rate by 0.5 percent to deal with budgetary concerns, Commissioner Daniel P. Troy frequently said that he wanted bipartisan support before he would agree to raise the sales tax. What that really meant was Sines needed to support it too.

Sines told me many times that he did not want to raise the rate, but he felt the county’s finances had gotten to a point where major cuts would have been needed and there was no certainty that services could be maintained to a level that residents expected.

When Sines recently reflected back on his tenure, he said the sales tax issue was one of his toughest decisions as a commissioner.

Part of what went into that decision was Sines also felt that the county Stormwater Management Department had more funding than was necessary and that if the other two commissioners would support cutting the user fees to property owners by 50 percent as part of an overall package, then he would support the sales tax increase.

So what ensued was the proposal spearheaded by Troy and agreed to by Commissioner Robert E. Aufuldish and Sines to raise the sales tax by 0.5 and decrease the stormwater user fees by 50 percent, plus reduce the rate property taxpayers pay to the county’s General Fund by 1.1 mills.

Because the sales tax package was a unanimous decision that made it much easier to implement and the issue did not have to be put on the countywide ballot.

Only a referendum could have defeated the package and there was never much hint of that developing. Meanwhile, the county’s budgetary situation appears to have stabilized.

At his last meeting Thursday, Aufuldish said Sines and the other two commissioners were able to put politics aside to get things done.

Troy said that Sines would be missed and he was able to work together with Sines not only as a commissioner but when the two served together as state representatives years ago in the Ohio General Assembly.

Sines noted at the meeting that the key to his life has been the support of his family who allowed him to do what he wanted to do.

He added that if a script were to have been written about how he wanted to live his life, it had contained everything he always wanted.

When Sines concluded his remarks about his retirement at the meeting, Troy and Aufuldish — in a show of class — gave Sines a standing ovation.

Swearing in ceremony

The Lake County Democratic Party will swear in Aufuldish and Commissioner Judy Moran, state Rep. John M. Rogers, Clerk of Courts Maureen G. Kelly, Recorder Ann M. Radcliffe, and Treasurer Lorraine M. Fende at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Performing Arts Center Theater at Lakeland Community College.

John Arthur Hutchison

JHutchison@News-Herald.com

Twitter: @newsheraldjah

The Lake and Geauga Area Association of Realtor’s Legislative Committee announced it supports the following candidates for these races:

U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio 14th Congressional District: David Joyce
Ohio Senate District 18: John Eklund
Ohio House of Representative District 76: Matt Lynch
Ohio House of Representative District 61: Ron Young
Ohio House of Representative District 60: John Rogers
Geauga County Commissioner: Tracy Jemison
Geauga County Recorder: Sharon Gingerich
Geauga County Clerk of Courts: Denise Kaminski
Lake County Commissioner: John Hamercheck 
Lake County Commissioner: David Fiebig
Lake County Prosecutor: Charles Coulson
Lake County Treasurer: Bob Patterson
Lake County Recorder: Jason Wuliger
Lake County Clerk of Courts: Maureen Kelly

John Arthur Hutchison
JHutchison@News-Herald.com
Twitter: @newsheraldjah