Mayoral candidates debate regionalism
By Ben Saylor
Rocky River
Published Oct. 31, 2007

The three mayoral candidates discussed Rocky River business issues at the Rocky River Chamber of Commerce luncheon last Thursday.

Held at the Don Umerley Civic Center, the talk was moderated by recently retired Rocky River City School District Superintendent Dennis Allen. Mayor Pamela Bobst, Ward 3 Councilman Frank Gollinger and resident Fred Sokol were asked a series of questions previously submitted by chamber members.

The first question addressed was the candidates’ stance on regionalism.

Bobst said, “I do support regionalism when regionalism means that we can expand, we can enhance services, cut costs for our residents and our businesses.” She pointed to city purchasing, land use and safety forces as areas in which Rocky River is regionally cooperative.

“Regionalism strengthens our community,” Bobst said. “It makes us more competitive. The bottom line, though for me, with regionalism is that we embrace regionalism when it’s positive for our community. But we don’t ever want it to affect our independence, our autonomy, or what makes us a special community.”

Gollinger began by saying that his interests “lie in Rocky River remaining Rocky River.”  He acknowledged that the city is engaged in a number of regional initiatives that will benefit residents, but also expressed a desire to learn more about water service options for the city. He also reiterated Bobst’s comment about supporting regionalism as long as it doesn’t adversely affect Rocky River.

Sokol said, “If there’s something that we can do to help another community grow as well as ours, I’m always going to listen and help.” He pointed to three regional endeavors he would like to see as mayor, the first being support of commuter rail providing it does not conflict with the city’s quiet zone, expansion of Rocky River’s regional purchasing and also handing over control of the Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

Another question asked was whether the candidates would support the creation of a regional planning entity to stimulate economic development in the area.

Gollinger indicated that he would not support such an initiative at this time.

“I don’t know if we are there at this point at time,” Gollinger said. “We certainly have issues right now in our own community that are sorely in need of addressing. We have a corridor on Center Ridge Road, and one just needs to drive by to see the number of the vacancies that are there, an issue that really needs to be addressed and addressed immediately…Once I think we have our ship sailing in the right direction, I see no problem in doing this on a more broader base, but currently I think the efforts need to be addressed here.”

Sokol said economic development is “job 1” for him. He said that his proposed tax cuts would help stimulate economic development.

“Economic development is the returning of money back into the hands of the businesses, and of course, the residents,” Sokol said. “When the money is being sent to City Hall, that money is not being spent by the taxpayers. I want more money back in the pockets of taxpayers, and also businesses.”

Sokol also indicated that a commuter rail could give the local economy a boost.

In her response, Bobst brought up the recent agreement regarding the I-90 Avon Interchange. In the process of developing the Interchange plan, Bobst said, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) studied a possible interchange from not only a transportation standpoint, but an economic one as well.

“I think there is an opportunity for NOACA to potentially take the step toward a regional planning authority,” Bobst said. “I do think we need a regional planning authority.”

Another question was what candidates felt was the biggest challenge facing businesses.

In Sokol’s response, he again discussed lowering taxes.

“This is how we help businesses in Rocky River,” Sokol said. He also said that as mayor, he would have a member of the business community attend City Council meetings to provide the city updates on business in Rocky River.

“We want a report from them,” Sokol said. “We want to know what’s going on in the community and what the business community needs.” He added that he would like to see a school board member attend each meeting.

Bobst said that the biggest challenge would be to strengthen and expand businesses. She attested to the need for the city to keep up an ongoing dialogue with businesses, and to also look at “creative things” such as business clustering and business incubators. She pointed to the proposed Medical Mart complex in Cleveland as an example of a business cluster.

Gollinger said, “Obviously one of the most difficult issues I think that businesses are facing today and will continue to face for a period of time is the economic issues associated with the economy.” He added that it’s very important for the city to continue to work with businesses to maintain an environment conducive to successful commerce. He also stressed the importance of buying locally, and for the city to demonstrate this practice to residents.

“I think that’s very important to set an example so that residents can see that there are providers in our community for almost anything,” Gollinger said.

The entire discussion, which lasted about an hour, was taped by Phil Ardussi of the Rocky River Historical Society and will be broadcast on demand courtesy of Cox Communications.