4 to run for Niles council seat

SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR

NILES — A candidate for the 1st Ward council seat sent his application by mail in time to beat Wednesday’s deadline.

John A. DeFalco, 37, Bentwillow Drive, is the fourth and final candidate to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Lee A. Smith who cited “very personal and private circumstances” for his resignation. Smith had been in office just four months.

It is the first time DeFalco, an engineer employed by Sytech Systems, Akron, has run for office. The candidate said he was motivated by the example of former 1st Ward councilman Frank Fuda, now a Trumbull County commissioner.

“I think we should get some young blood in there and continue some of the things Fuda did when he was in office,” DeFalco said.

Other candidates are former councilman David Wilkerson, 45, a construction foreman; Brenda Claypool, 47, chief executive officer of a background screening company; and Thomas Connelly, 66, a U.S. Postal Service retiree.

Council has scheduled a special meeting for 5:30 p.m. May 28 in the city hall conference room to review the applications and choose Smith’s successor.

Council, rather than a political precinct committee, makes the choice because Smith was elected as an independent write-in candidate.