CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Cuyahoga County Executive candidates sat down with Spectrum News 1 to discuss their plans for the county ahead of Nov. 8.
Candidates for Cuyahoga County Executive are ramping up their campaigns with election night right around the corner.
Democrat Chris Ronayne and Republican Lee Weingart are hoping to replace Armond Budish as the new Cuyahoga County Executive. The position was formed nearly 12 years ago.
Weingart and Ronayne are no strangers to public service. Weingart served as county commissioner from 1995 to 1997. Ronayne has served as the president of University Circle Incorporated for 16 years. Both are running their campaigns with different agendas and goals in mind.
“We're focusing a lot on tax reform,” Weingart said. “The first thing is bringing property tax relief to senior citizens. So those who are at least 60 years old living on fixed incomes, we’re going to freeze their property taxes until they sell their house.”
“It's about working with people,” Ronayne said. “It’s about knowing how to leverage what other people can bring to the table, putting them together and creating that synergy where two plus two truly equals five.”
Both agree to oppose a plan to build a new county jail on Transport Road, citing concerns about potential contamination, among other factors.
“We need a justice system that works for our community, not just the jail,” Ronayne said. “I’ve been focused on that from the beginning that we think about actually the downsizing of our population within.”
Weingart would like to see renovations done to the current downtown jail.
“The county is talking about a $2 billion jail paid out over 40 years,” Weingart said. “I think we can do that for a lot less money if we renovate jail two and build a new jail three and we keep the jail complex downtown instead of moving out of downtown.”
Ronayne has a plan heavily focused on reducing gun violence, improving access to health care and also creating a better lakefront.
“I want to see this [Cleveland] as a destination again for swimmers, for boaters, for recreationalists, for tourists and for those who live here to connect to it,” Ronayne said.
Weingart plans to focus on growing Cuyahoga County and investing in private housing and adding jobs from within.
“If you think objectively the transparency and transformative we we can really grow this county again and have honest county government for the first time in a very long time,” Weingart said.