Seven candidates running in the May 3 Portage County primary elections met with constituents to introduce themselves and then held question and answer sessions to allow voters to get to know them better.
The League of Women Voters of Kent hosted the candidates forum at the Kent United Church of Christ on April 2.
In attendance were three of the four candidates in the Republican primary for the role of Portage County Auditor, as well as the two Democratic and two Republican candidates running in the primary to fill Vicki Kline’s seat on the Portage County Board of Commissioners.
The deadline to register to vote in those elections is April 4. A voting guide is available from the League of Women Voters here.
Each candidate was given two minutes to present an introduction, then each would travel to one of seven tables to speak directly with voters for 12 minute question and answer sessions.
Two candidates for auditor were not present: Democratic candidate for auditor Brad Cromes was not invited because he is running unopposed in his primary, and Republican candidate Deborah L. Mann was unable to attend.
Candidates for Auditor
Matt Kelly (R)
A resident of Suffield, Kelly served on the Mogadore Village Council for 14 years before deciding to run for auditor, holding such roles as chairman of the safety, fire and police committee and zoning committee. He also served in the U.S. Air Force for 23 years and attended the University of Washington. He is currently employed by Goodyear in Akron as an environmental health and safety manager.
“The most important thing for me in being auditor is that this is a public service,” Kelly said. “You can talk about politics and all that kind of stuff, [but] I think it is very important to be involved in your community and this seemed like a good way for me to do that coming out of council for Mogadore.”
During the Q&A section, Kelly admitted he has limited budget experience and does not have a CPA, calling this a “weakness” for an auditor. But he also said he believes he can bring a new set of eyes and the existing team at the auditor’s office would help him learn the role.
Kelly talked about how he had visited the office of outgoing auditor Janet Esposito, and how much respect he had for her work and her team. He said he would keep that quality governance in place, while working to build transparency and public trust.
“The auditor’s office can build public trust, and that is something we need more of,” Kelly said. “I envision some way to present visually to all of Portage County a representation of what the auditor does. Nobody wants to pay taxes, but when we can see, and be happy with, where they are going it makes that easier.”
Find Kelly’s facebook page here.
Brian Ames (R)
Ames has lived “in the area” since 1985, coming originally from western Pennsylvania. He worked in the defense industry at Goodyear Aerospace, Chrysler and Lockheed Martin.
Both in his two-minute introduction and subsequent Q&A session, Ames hung his hat on the fact that he has taken steps to improve transparency of government before ever being a member of it.
“I have done numerous things to ensure that public bodies are complying with the Open Meetings Act,” Ames said. “It’s very important that we know what our government is doing.”
In January 2020, Ames filed a lawsuit against the Portage County Budget Commission, alleging it was in violation of the Open Meetings Act for never posting public notice of its meetings.
The Court of Common Pleas found in his favor, and according to Ames the Budget Commission now posts notices and even livestreams of every meeting.
“I have been involved for years in bringing sunshine to various [government] bodies in Portage County,” Ames said. “And I think I can continue doing that from the inside, I want to show that being open and transparent is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do.”
He specifically pitched an idea for a system of notifying residents when and on what their tax dollars are spent, so they don’t have to “chase down that information.”
Find Ames’ candidate Facebook page here.
Kristy Elliot (R)
Elliot has a self-described “strong financial background” stemming from receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
She also already has experience in public office, as she currently serves as the fiscal officer for Deerfield Township.
“I did public accounting for 10 years where I audited small businesses, large corporations, and prepared individual corporate income taxes,” Elliot said. “I then went on to be the Deerfield fiscal officer. So I would like to take this opportunity to step up and do the same position on the county level.”
She said that experience working a similar job in Deerfield, and specifically working with the county auditor from the other side, uniquely prepares her for the position.
Elliot also currently works as the CFO for two Portage County businesses, the I-76 Antiques Mall in Ravenna and Hydrosol Systems in Kent. She also has a real estate license and sells real estate in her free time.
If elected Elliot would have to resign from Deerfield government and said she would also resign from Hydrosol and reduce her involvement in real estate sales to focus on the auditor’s duties.
“I have been wanting to run for this position for a long time, but I have been waiting because I didn’t want to run against Janet [Esposito],” she said. “It just makes sense for me based on what I am passionate about.”
She said she hopes to make the auditor’s office more paperless, and better explain to citizens how their tax spending and public funds work.
Deborah L. Mann (R)
Mann did not attend the candidate forum, but she will be on the primary ballot. Mann does not appear to have a candidate Facebook page, and she did not respond to the League of Women Voters candidate guide. She also did not respond to a request from The Portager by press time. She is a resident of Aurora and a graduate of Kent State.
Brad Cromes (D)
Because Cromes is standing unopposed in his primary, he did not attend and will represent the Democratic Party in November against whichever Republican candidate wins on May 3.
A graduate of Hiram College, Cromes also attended Ohio State University, where he earned a master’s in public policy and management and a juris doctorate from the Moritz College of Law.
Cromes, a resident of Ravenna, is the current treasurer of Portage County, a position he was appointed to in 2015 and approved by voters to remain in both 2016 and 2020.
On the county website, Cromes said in his introduction, “When I took office as Portage County Treasurer, I made it a priority to make our office as transparent, accessible and accountable to taxpayers as possible.”
In 2011, Cromes’ worked with Portage County organizers to repeal Ohio Senate Bill 5, which would have limited the collective bargaining power of the state’s public employees.
In 2012, he was appointed deputy director of the county board of elections.
Read his full bio on his website at bradcromes.com and about what he does as county treasurer on his Facebook page.
Candidates for Commissioner
Geraldine Hayes Nelson (D)
Hayes Nelson retired from Kent State in 2020 and still lives in Kent. While working for KSU she served at different times as associate dean of undergraduate studies and assistant vice president of pipeline initiatives and diversity programing.
Her last role with the university was as executive director of human resources.
Hayes Nelson also attended Kent State, earning a bachelor’s of science in education and a master’s degree between 1974 and 1981. In 2009, she earned a PhD in higher education administration, also from KSU.
“What I bring to the table is I have over 30 years of experience of working out in the community,” she said. “I’ve been in the Kent community for over 30 years. My children have homes here, and my grandchildren attend school here.”
Hayes Nelson talked about her working class background, with a mother who worked in the cafeteria of Ohio State University and a father that drove trucks.
“I know what it is like to be looking for a seat at the table,” Hayes Nelson said. “That is why I am going to meet and listen to everyone.”
She argued during the Q&A that Portage County has been “idle” in how it meets the needs of its citizens and that she would bring a new approach.
“We need to hear the voices of all of Portage County,” Hayes Nelson said. “We need to decide our mission, and what we value. Portage County has changed and evolved. We can’t keep doing the same things and expecting different results.”
To learn more visit drnelsonforportage.com.
Tim Moon (D)
Another graduate of Kent State, Moon earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1991.
A Rootstown resident, he has worked in the criminal justice system of Portage County since 1988 when he became first a juvenile probation officer and later an adult probation officer. Next he became an investigator with the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office, where he has worked for 25 years.
“My goal as a county commissioner is to encourage more transparency and government accountability,” Moon said. “I also want to have [more] accessibility for the residents for not only government services, but for everything. I’d like PARTA to be able to go to more places, and I’d like for us to have broadband [internet] in more areas around the county.”
Moon said he has been working hard to learn as much as he can about the inner workings and needs of communities across the county by attending city council and trustee meetings.
“I work my eight hours [at the prosecutor’s office] and then in the evenings I go to two or three meetings a week, sometimes two or three meetings a day,” he said.
Moon said he would address the needs of individual communities in order to build up the county as a whole, a “strong township, strong county” system, as he called it.
Though his experience in government is tied to criminal justice, Moon is confident that he understands the needs of the wider community.
“Working for the county for 34 years, I think I have a pretty good idea of how it works,” Moon said.
Ed Dean (R)
A resident of Deerfield Township, Dean is a long-time member of the Deerfield Board of Trustees, to which he has been appointed once and elected four more times.
A graduate of Southeast High School, Dean considered attending Kent State but instead took a job at a steel mill, where he worked for 36 years. He also started his own excavation company after retiring.
Dean initially got involved in local government as a member of the Deerfield Zoning Commission, before winning election to the board of trustees.
During over two decades on the board of trustees, Dean served as the chairman of the board for “10 or 11 years.”
“During that time … I’ve conducted many, many meetings. I understand the sunshine law. I understand the transparency. I understand the right of people to know everything that goes on, and I fully support that,” Dean said.
He initially ran for county commissioner in 2018, when he was defeated by Vicki Kline. Dean said he never lost interest in becoming a member of the board of commissioners, and has continued to attend meetings in the four years since.
Dean thinks that his experience working in Deerfield prepared him for a new role on the board of commissioners.
“I’ve been a township trustee for more than 20 years, and what we do in those meetings is very similar [to commissioner’s meetings],” he said.
In addition to experience running meetings, Dean said he understands how to request and allocate funds, and how to be open to the public about those allocations.
He said it was his intention to help the county account for its budget “right down to the last penny” and that departments would have to explain why they needed more money.
He used the example of the sheriff’s office receiving millions more in funding in 2021 than in 2018, praising the sheriff but saying he wouldn’t be exempt from budget accountability.
“Of course the sheriff’s department needs money, but family services needs money too,” he said.
In order to increase transparency, Dean said he would push to hold at least one county commisioner’s meeting a quarter in the evening, so those who work during the day could attend.
Mike Tinlin (R)
Tinlin served as chief of police in the City of Aurora from 2001 to 2003 and remained in Aurora after retiring. He has been a resident of Portage County for 62 years.
A decades-long career in law enforcement saw Tinlin start as an undercover narcotics officer at age 16. He also served as a captain and assistant to the chief of police in Hudson for 20 years before taking the job in Aurora.
Tinlin received an associates degree in criminal justice and political science from the University of Akron in 1978, and also graduated from the FBI national academy.
“I am not a politician, I just want everyone to know that, it’s not my style,” he said. “I’m a supervisor, I’m an administrator [and] I love people. I’ve worked in funeral homes for 25 years and I love people at their worst and at their best, because I can help them.”
During the Q&A session, Tinlin emphasized to voters that what would make him different would be his proactivity and willingness to hold department heads accountable. He argued that the current Board of County Commissioners lacks communication ability that he can provide.
“I’m going to be knocking on doors, and I mean department head’s doors, to let them know that there is somebody watching them now,” he said.
Tinlin said an issue that was crucial for him, and for the development of Portage County, was improving the infrastructure of the county.
“I can take this county where it needs to be,” he said. “Economic development is my key.”
Tinlin pointed specifically to poor road quality throughout the county and a need to develop and improve the Portage County Airport. He said he believes the airport can be a major economic boon to the city.
But development is not Tinlin’s only concern, as he also talked about the need to protect the environment of Portage County.
He said he has seen trucks dumping fracking and other waste illegally. A resident asked him what he would do if he saw that activity after being elected to the board of commissioners.
“I’m staying there until the sheriff arrives, and we are going to go after that company,” Tinlin said.
Find Mike Tinlin on Facebook here.
Owen MacMillan is a reporter with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University, producing local news coverage in partnership with The Portager.