League of Women Voters hosts forum for local candidates

Alyssa Sparacino

Candidates running for Portage County offices on the November ballot spoke to an audience of about 70 at Stanton Middle School last night as part of a local forum organized by the Kent chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Terrie Nielsen, Kent chapter president, said the league tries to hold an election event each year and has done so in various formats, such as debates and moderated forums.

“One of the league’s functions is to provide educational opportunities about the election process,” Nielsen said. “It’s important for people to be able to ask what they want to ask, and they wouldn’t otherwise have a format to do so.”

Nielsen said seeing a candidate in person is valuable because voters can see how candidates address a question, which can be just as important as the answer itself.

JoEllen Armstrong, a North Portage County League of Women Voters member, said she believes the forum is a way for people to learn more about the candidates.

“I think it’s really a disservice to the community at large to make an ignorant or uninformed choice on who to vote for,” she said.

Candidates, opposed and unopposed, were invited to give a brief introduction of themselves and their platforms, which were followed by questions from the audience.

Among those candidates in attendance were several incumbents and their opponents.

At the forum, Republican candidate Larry Solak challenged Democratic Commissioner Chris Smeiles. Solak spoke about what he would like to see done differently in the county if elected, such as lowering the county debt, controlling the costs of county government and implementing a “rainy day” fund.

“Tough times are ahead of us,” he said. “Chances are, we are going to need it.”

Smeiles spoke of his successes while in office, such as bringing and keeping jobs to the area with the L’Oreal cosmetics company warehouse and the expansion of the Delta Systems Inc., both in Streetsboro.

David Doak, a Democrat running for Portage County sheriff, began his address by talking about citizen safety and ended his speech with a simple request of the audience.

“Exercise your freedom,” he said. “Exercise your right to vote, and vote for the candidate of your choice.”

Sheriff Duane Kaley, who is an Independent, is opposing Doak and said he is running for re-election because he wants to “continue the war on crime.”

Overall, six county positions up for election were represented, including Ohio House representatives for the 68th and 43rd districts, Ohio Senate representative of the 28th district, 11th district Court of Appeals of Ohio, county sheriff and county commissioner.

Dan Gear, of Deerfield, said he was disappointed in the forum’s brief overview and would have liked to have more time to address other questions.

But Ingrid Wenger, of Kent, said she thought the candidates were very instructive, and the forum gave her a chance to familiarize herself with some of the candidates.

“I thought it was very worthwhile,” she said. “I’m sorry more people didn’t take advantage of this.”

Starting next week, go to www.vote411.org for more information about local candidates.

Contact public affairs reporter Alyssa Sparacino at [email protected].