Tomorrow the residents of Ward 2 will have to decide between newcomer Jack Amrhein and Councilwoman Carrie Gavriloff.

Ward 2 polling locations can be found here.

While both candidates agree on many of the different issues, both bring different viewpoints and backgrounds to help them.

Jack Amrhein is a teacher at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent. He has been teaching, primarily social studies and government, for 24 years. He is also the treasurer of the Kent Historical Society.

Ward 2 resident Mike Sepi said he is going to vote for Amrhein on Election Day.

“I think he would be a good man for the ward,” Sepi said. “I think we need new people. That’s why I’m supporting Jack. He knows what the people want. They (City Council) just don’t seem like they’re doing anything. Something’s wrong, and we need a change.”

Gavriloff has been the councilwoman for Ward 2 for the past four years. She is a part-time nurse at Akron Children’s Hospital and was a member of the Board of Health.

Ward 2 resident Connie Craven said she is going to vote for Gavriloff.

“When you contact her, she listens, and she has her meetings so people can talk to her about their problems,” Craven said. “She listened about the Middlebury Bridge and got us more stop signs. She’s not bossy when you talk to her. She is very polite.”

If re-elected, Gavriloff said she wants to continue working on neighborhood integrity.

“The one issue that still lingers that I will work on if re-elected is neighborhood integrity issues. We still have issues with speeding, especially on Middlebury Road, and rentals, but not student rentals.”

Amrhein said an issue he wants to work on if elected is better relations among City Council members.

“I think Carrie is a very, very nice lady, and I know she works very hard for the neighborhood. I have absolutely no problem with that. I think we have a lot of the same goals for the City of Kent. I just might be a little more positive in my approach. It’s the council in general. If you’ve been to council meetings, there is this negative vibe there. I don’t think that it is very productive. I think we need somebody that’s positive. I have training in conflict management, and I think one of the major issues is that when your on a council whether you agree with someone or not, you disagree in a dignified and professional way.”

Amrhein plans to work on keeping Ward 2 family-friendly and free of excessive noise.

“There are some noise problems in parts of the ward. It’s certainly different because we don’t have a concentration of students living in Ward 2 but not all noise comes from the students. I think we have a distinct ward. It’s very family-oriented, and I would like to keep it that way.”

Gavriloff said that if she is re-elected, she is going to continue to do what she has done the last four years, including holding neighborhood meetings and communicating with her residents.

“I will continue to do what I’ve done for four years. I will continue to serve the residents to the best of my ability,” Gavriloff said. “To be a councilman, you can’t do it on your own; you need help from the residents and council.”

Both candidates said they want to be active in bringing new businesses downtown.

Gavriloff said that bringing new businesses downtown is important, and they need the support of Kent residents to stay.

“The Main Street Program is a good program to facilitate getting businesses to come to Kent,” Gavriloff said, “but we need to support these businesses by frequenting them.”

Amrhein said he wants to concentrate on bringing more businesses to Kent to revitalize the downtown for residents and students. Also, it’s necessary to bring in tax revenue so residents won’t have higher taxes.

“Basically to bring business to Kent, that’s really what I’m striving to do,” Amrhein said. “I would like to see us increase taxes, but not with the people; increase the tax base with the new businesses. I think there are lots of possibilities, and the Main Street Program is really working hard to do that. Without a strong downtown, the city will start to bleed a slow death. I’m rather afraid of that.”

The Ward 2 election will be held tomorrow.

Contact public affairs reporter Emily Andrews at [email protected].