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Trumbull Co. voters keep Fuda, Cantalamessa as commissioners
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
For the next two years, the Trumbull County commissioners office will have two veteran county commissioners and newcomer Mauro Cantalamessa.
Commissioner Frank Fuda was re-elected Tuesday to his third four-year term, while fellow Democrat Cantalamessa was elected to finish the last two years of the term of Paul Heltzel, who died in June. The third commissioner is Dan Polivka.
Fuda, who received 65 percent of the vote to Republican Patricia Paridon’s 35 percent, received praise from Heltzel last summer for his determination to secure the funding to build the $10 million Kinsman sewer project despite numerous obstacles. Kinsman officials have said the project could give a big boost to the community’s economy.
Fuda points out many more sewer projects to complete in the next five years to fulfill a promise to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to rid the county of septic systems that pollute.
Cantalamessa, meanwhile, is trained as a teacher but has operated the family-owned Enzo’s Restaurant on Elm Road for many years. He says he believes his youthfulness and business experience are among his greatest assets.
Cantalamessa defeated J.D. Williams of Liberty, a commercial airline pilot who also spent 34 years in the Air Force Reserves. Cantalamessa received 55 percent of the vote; Williams received 45 percent.
Standing with his 13-month-old son, Benito, Cantalamessa said he believes 100 percent in what Fuda says about the work of the county commissioners — “It’s not about politics. It’s about business.”
He said he hopes his position as county commissioner can give young people hope for a future for them in Trumbull County. “I think our brightest days are ahead,” he said.
Cantalamessa, of WarTren, has served as interim county commissioner since the Trumbull County Democratic Party Central Committee selected him in a controversial vote in July. The state Democratic Party Chairman, Chris Redfern, said the vote violated the Democratic Party bylaws, but an agreement was reached later that allowed Cantalamessa’s selection to be upheld.
Williams ran as a Democrat in a Statehouse race in 2010 against Sean O’Brien. He took a bit of an outsider’s perspective in the commissioners’ race, saying county hiring practices are too heavily weighted toward political insiders, and the county would be better off with a “two-party system” instead of having mostly Democrats.
His interest in the commissioners job also focused on restoring economic vitality to the county so young people like his daughters will want to have a career here.