Tuesday, April 19, 2011
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Though most of the pre-election buzz has been about the race for Warren mayor, two newcomers and two incumbents also are running for three seats as at-large members of council while two council veterans are competing for council president.
Incumbent Dan Sferra, who has served on Warren City Council 10 years dating back to 1972 and also served as mayor 16 years and state representative four years, is one of four candidates for council at large.
Sferra spoke at a candidates forum at the Sunrise Inn on Monday night sponsored by the Trumbull County Jefferson Democratic Club.
Sferra said the complaints some people have about Warren can be answered with one statement: “Drive down Dana Street. There were 1,000 jobs down there. Now they’re gone.”
There were 100 employees in the street department when he was mayor. Now there are 24, Sferra noted.
Another veteran legislator, Helen Rucker, told the audience she is impressed with the new members of council who were elected two years ago.
“This council just jumped right in,” she said. Rucker said she’s served the Trumbull County Democratic Party for 20 years and was born and raised here.
James T. Valesky Jr. has lived in Warren most of his life except for six years in the Marine Corps. Valesky, 55, is a political newcomer and a salesman for Klaben Ford Lincoln of Warren.
Valesky was founder of the Historic Perkins Homestead Neighborhood Association in 2006, which he believes inspired the creation of many other neighborhood groups in the years that followed.
He is a member of the Downtown Warren Business Association and worked with the late Walt English and others to bring the Summer Concert Series to the Warren Amphitheater.
The fourth at-large candidate, Bill Kruppa, did not attend.
At-large councilman Bob Dean is challenging incumbent Bob Marchese for council president.
With the exodus of young people from Warren, the average age is 58, Marchese said.
“It’s about serving the community,” Marchese said of serving on city council. “Together, all of us work. Together is the most important thing,” he said. “Yes, the Valley is changing, but it’s what we do with it that counts.”
Dean, who serves on seven volunteer boards, served 20 years in the United States Air Force, was director of citizens assistance in Houston mayor’s office for 10 years and did contract management for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland until he retired several years ago.
“The key word is service,” Dean said. “That’s what I plan to do if elected.”
Greg Bartholomew, who opposes incumbent Marti Morn for 4th Ward council, which represents the downtown and southeast areas, is owner of All American Comics and Cards on West Market Street on Courthouse Square and a Boardman store.
“I work seven days a week. Anybody can come down to my store and talk to me,” he said.
Morn did not attend.
Incumbent 7th Ward councilman Eddie Colbert did not attend, but his opponent did. She is Susan Hartman, who is attempting to regain the seat Colbert won from her two years ago. The 7th Ward is on the West Side.
Two newcomers are challenging 1st Ward incumbent Fiore Dippolito, but neither Dippolito nor his challengers attended.