First Woman Entrant in Cuyahoga Exec Race? Clue : She's Not Named Nina.
Submitted by Anthony Fossaceca on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 11:49am.
Of all the names most frequently mentioned in the soon-to-be-chaotic Cuyahoga County Executive race, only one has been a woman - State Senator Nina Turner. Over the weekend, OhioDaily received tips on both sides of town about another possible entry further complicating the math and possibly adding another woman to the field of potential candidates.
According to our sources, South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo is taking a serious look at tossing her hat in the ring and joining Lakewood Mayor Ed FitzGerald as the second Democrat in the mix. Welo did not repond by efforts to reach her over the weekend. Geauga County Republican Matt Dolan is in the mix as well (apparently there isn't a single viable Republican in Cuyahoga, so they're going to the bullpen to tap the family that destroyed the Indians. Brilliant.).
Normally, we'd add some commentary on how Welo and the others would be impacted by the move, but with so many possible candidates looking at the race, it's very difficult to say. In a head-to-head, one would think FitzGerald beats Welo (Lakewood being significantly larger than South Euclid and FitzGerald likely having some funding already in place), but who knows. Until the filing deadline - probably in late summer - all we can do is wait.
I also heard she's telling people she's in
and people are laughing their asses off because they think she's woefully unqualified and more than a little contentious. Also laughing their heads off: people in Geauga County who are telling me that Dolan will be easy to make look incompetent and over his head. Also heard from folks that have worked with him that he's basically lazy, so he won't like the job much.
Couple comments
I don't know anything about Mayor Welo except that I met her very briefly about a month ago. She mentioned how she first ran for office when her kids were younger than mine, so it's interesting that someone is saying that she's "woefully unqualified." With the Palin standard out there for comparison, it's hard for anyone to be called "woefully unqualified" anymore - for better or worse.
As for Matt Dolan, I will just submit these WLST blog posts on Dolan w/out comment because I might not be able to be proper but let's just say that they support what you've shared, Anastasia:
1. He made Sheryl Harris' 2006 list of legislators who sold us out. Did I mention that was 2006?
2. Several about his failure to oversee wine importing legislation closely enough, resulting in enacted faux pas law:
http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2008/01/24/wine-hangover-matt-dolans-d...
http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2008/01/02/aaron-marshall-wupdate-on-d...
http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2007/11/02/no-wine-country-gift-basket...
http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2007/10/12/will-wine-worries-dampen-do...
http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2007/10/08/wine-events-to-include-legi...
Re: I also heard she's telling people she's in...
Anastasia, all it took me was one search on the internet to find out about Georgine Welo. Vice Chair of the new County Land Bank; Chair of the regional First Suburbs Consortium - 17 inner-ring suburbs - for five years; Created NEOSO to regionalize/consolidate the purchase of products and services in government; Vice President of the Mayors and Managers Association; member of the DOPWIC committee that decides on regional road repair funds; and Mayor of an inner-ring suburb for 6 years and former Council Member. What about that, says "woefully unqualified"? Now, there may be others that enter the race that are more qualified or more popular, but obviously to utilize that label without backing it up is a bit overtelling...Are you already backing this Fitzgerald guy? By the way, you wrote an excellent article about the PD and Issue 6. Nice Job!
If Only
Georgine Welo is an excellent executive and has a track record of success as mayor, perhaps more so than FitzGerald; plus she has the likability factor in her favor. If only she can organize and fund a countywide campaign with hundreds of volunteers. If only she could out grassroots any competetion. If only no one more qualified, better funded or more well-connected steps up to the plate.