Stow official hopes to leave funds to city when he deploys to Kuwait

STOW, Ohio (AP) — When Brian Reali deploys to Kuwait as a captain in the Ohio National Guard, he’d like to leave some of his city salary behind.

Reali, 38, the law director since November in this city south of Cleveland, will begin training at Fort Hood, Texas, next month in preparation for service in Kuwait as a staff judge advocate with the Guard’s 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

He has a city salary of $73,000 but plans to donate about $20,000 of that to the cost of extra staff to help out his replacement while he’s away this year.

“The goal is to minimize the negative effects as much as possible for those back home,” he told the Akron Beacon Journal for a story published Monday.

The married father of three said he hopes to work about 20 hours per week on Stow duties while in Kuwait. Former law director Joe Haefner will act as deputy law director during Reali’s absence, and Reali hopes to help pay for some extra help for Haefner.

State Sen. John Boccieri, a Democrat and an Air Force Reserve major, has served four rotations in Afghanistan and Iraq as a C-130 pilot. He said he received his legislative pay during his deployments and respects Reali’s decision to give up some of his salary.

“I think it’s pretty admirable,” Boccieri said.