YOUNGSTOWN McCabe is finalist for Cuyahoga Co. post
About 100 people applied for the position.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Thomas McCabe, deputy director for the Mahoning County Board of Elections, is a finalist for the director's job at the Cuyahoga County elections board.
McCabe, 36, spent two days last week at the Cuyahoga County board office as part of the job interview process, and expects to have a final interview shortly.
About 100 people applied for the position, vacated by Thomas Jelepsis, who resigned in February after a falling-out with the four-member elections board.
McCabe, the Mahoning election board's deputy director for the past five years, is among the five finalists for the Cuyahoga County position. Two of the other finalists are from Ohio, including Joseph O'Malley, director of Cuyahoga County Information Service Center; one is from Utah; and one is from Missouri.
The elections board expects to select a director next month. The board's decision on a new director is subject to final approval by Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, according to state law.
"I'd have to move, but it's a great opportunity," said McCabe, of Beaver Township, about the director's job.
Salary raise
He would see a significant increase in pay should he get the Cuyahoga County appointment.
McCabe earns $47,000 annually as Mahoning's deputy director. The Cuyahoga job pays between $92,000 and $100,000 annually. Lynnie G. Powell is being paid $105,000 annually as Cuyahoga's interim director. Once a permanent director is appointed, she will return to her previous job as deputy director.
During McCabe's five years as Mahoning's deputy director, the elections board conducted a countywide redistricting effort that reduced the number of precincts by 25 percent and became the first county in the state to implement an electronic, touch-screen voting system.
skolnick@vindy.com