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Politics great fun for spectator
(by Dave Lange - January 21, 2010)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Politics great fun for spectator
I'm a politics junkie. Some people are hooked on spectator sports. I can't get enough of watching local politics, and, lately, I've had plenty to cheer and jeer about.
Take recent state Rep. Matthew Dolan, the one-time Democrat and then longtime Republican who grew up in Geauga County and lived in Russell but moved to Chagrin Falls in order to live in Cuyahoga County, prior to resigning from his Ohio House seat with sights set on the newly created office of county executive.
Does it get any better than that?
How about that Michael Wise, a former state representative from Chagrin Falls with unimpeachable conservative Republican credentials who returned to politics in a big way last November to win election to the coveted position of Chagrin Falls Township trustee. Mr. Wise and Thomas Florkiewicz teamed up to knock longtime Trustees Stephen Thomas and Diana Nazelli, both of Democratic Party persuasion, out of office. The biggest contributor to the Wise-Florkiewicz campaign fund was the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, whose central committee is chaired by Sally Florkiewicz, who just happens to be married to the new trustee.
That is so cool.
Bainbridge Trustee Matthew Lynch, who suddenly found himself on the minority end of that township's political stick following the November election, announced his intention to run as a Republican for Mr. Dolan's Ohio House seat even before it was vacated. A Republican caucus will select a party loyalist to serve the last year of Mr. Dolan's term, and I can't think of anybody more loyal than Mr. Lynch.
I can hardly wait for that decision.
However, if Mr. Lynch would be the choice, that would leave a vacant seat on the Bainbridge Township Board of Trustees. The other trustees, Jeffrey Markley and Lorrie Benza, could appoint somebody who they get along with.
Boring!
Not that a Democrat has a prayer in next November's election for Mr. Dolan's former Ohio House seat, but recently ousted Claridon Township Trustee Mary Briggs has announced that she intends to give it a shot.
Politics are so much fun with Ms. Briggs in the mix.
Speaking of being on the outside looking in, Chester Trustee Ronald Cotman decided not to run for re-election in November. But he and his wife spent about $2,800 to campaign against his nemesis, Trustee Judy Caputo, who received voters' support anyway. The Cotmans' campaign spotlighted Mrs. Caputo's connections to the embattled Democratic "political machine" in Cuyahoga County, where she is employed in the office of Auditor Frank Russo.
As some people say, it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. You have to admire a gamer who injects Cuyahoga County politics into a township trustees race in Geauga County.
Injecting a Geauga County politician into Cuyahoga County politics may or may not be just what the doctor ordered for Matt Dolan. Voters' approval of county-government reform in November will ensure the election of some Republicans to the new county council, but it may not mean a Republican can be elected countywide to the position of Cuyahoga County executive.
Whether Mr. Dolan calls himself a Republican or a Democrat won't matter nearly as much to Cuyahoga County voters as whether his family's baseball team, the Cleveland Indians, wins the World Series.
Happily, I'm just a spectator.
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