Gerberry's political dream on verge of coming true

Mahoning County Recorder Ronald Gerberry never wanted to leave the state Legislature.
But Gerberry of Austintown, who served 19 years in the state House, didn't have a choice in 2000. A state term-limits law passed in the early 1990s -- a terrible decision in hindsight -- forced him to not seek re-election to the Ohio House seven years ago.
Since then, Gerberry has done what he can to position himself to return to Columbus. He announced plans in 2002 and 2006 to run for the state Senate, only to withdraw both times.
It was essentially a foregone conclusion that Gerberry would run next year for the state House seat currently held by Rep. Kenneth A. Carano of Austintown. Carano can't run next year for re-election because of the state's term-limits law.
With no state legislative seats to seek, Gerberry successfully ran for county recorder in 2000, and won re-election in 2004. Gerberry enjoys the job and by all accounts, he's done a good job. But the reality is Gerberry has always wanted to return to Columbus as a legislator.
Barring a minor miracle or a change of heart, which would be completely unexpected, by Gerberry, the Ohio House Democratic Caucus will select him later this month to replace Carano. Carano is leaving the House effective April 30 to become Gov. Ted Strickland's Mahoning Valley regional director.
While the recorder's seat isn't even cold, there are candidates lining up supporters in their campaign to replace Gerberry under the (correct) assumption that he's returning to the Ohio House. Three have already announced and more candidates are likely.
If Gerberry gets the state House appointment, the county Democratic precinct committee members will meet, probably in mid- to late May, to appoint a new county recorder.
It's been known for quite some time that Carano was going to leave early for a state job and that Gerberry was interested in replacing the man who replaced him in the Ohio House.
Atty. Mark Belinky of Boardman, the county party's secretary who lost the 2000 Democratic primary for recorder to Gerberry, has already sent out letters to and met with precinct committee members seeking support.
Belinky is the most visible and well-known name of the candidates who've publicly expressed their interest in the recorder's job. That could work to his benefit or could hurt him.
Belinky co-founded the Democrats of the 17th and 6th Districts political club. According to its Web site, seven "dissidents" organized the club in June 1998 after concluding "that the Mahoning Valley would always be mired in political corruption unless there was a group of Democrats who would be willing to stand up to the political establishment and elect public officials who truly had the interests of the community at heart."
Over the years, the club often criticized the county party, Belinky unsuccessfully ran for party chairman in 2002, and had a message board on its Web site that featured pointed criticism and personal attacks about various Democratic officeholders.
Belinky, a precinct committeeman, has worked to improve his relationship with party leadership; most notably by recently taking down the message board. Just a few years ago no one would even consider the possibility of county Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Antonini attending a meeting of the group. But in a sign of unity, she's been to a few of those meetings in the past two years.
Another recorder candidate, Noralynn Palermo of Youngstown, isn't involved in Democratic politics. But she's worked for the recorder's office for the past 32 years. While she has the background and experience, Palermo's biggest drawback is this is a political appointment and she isn't as familiar as Belinky is with the local political process.
Realizing she could be out of the race before it started, Palermo announced her candidacy this week. Her concern was she wouldn't have a chance because Belinky and Richard Slaina of Poland, who's worked for the county engineer's department for the past 23 years, are already campaigning.
Slaina has worked on some campaigns, but has never run for office. Like Palermo, he is concentrating on introducing himself to precinct committee members and seeking their support.