Carmen Laudato. Submitted photo

Carmen Laudato and Jill Crawford on the ballot for county commissioner

Republican Jill Crawford and Democrat Carmen Lisa Laudato are squaring off to serve as Portage County commissioner.

Crawford did not respond to The Portager’s request for an interview.

Carmen Lisa Laudato currently resides in Ravenna, where she is a member of the Planning Commission. Prior to 2019, she lived in Streetsboro, where she was a member of city council. She is employed as a high school social studies teacher at Safehouse, a juvenile residential and corrections facility in Youngstown.

What is your take on the recent news and controversy surrounding the Portage County Sheriff’s Office? What steps could you as a commissioner take to address the issues that are giving rise to the controversy?

“The sheriff’s antics and behavior are only a continuation of what people have been complaining about since he took office. This controversy, and issues with [Bruce] Zuchowski’s department, only bring into sharp relief the importance of the commissioner’s role in controlling the budget.”

Referencing “so many incidental lawsuits against the sheriff himself and a few of the deputies,” Laudato called for “a fresh look at the sheriff’s budget to restore oversight and accountability in that department.”

The sheriff’s ongoing budget requests are well documented. How would you deal with that?

“In any role where you oversee the budget, you must have any director adhere to the budget unless there is an emergency. The commissioners oversee several departments and one department’s requests should not continually overshadow all of the others.”

“Having a director adhere to a budget is not defunding the police, as has been the accusation made by Zuchowski to the commissioners. No sheriff in Portage County history has received the level of increases he has enjoyed and, to some extent, squandered.”

Almost a year after the cities of Kent, Streetsboro and Ravenna sued the county and Zuchowski for allegedly keeping money he should have distributed when he caused the Portage County Drug Task Force to disband in 2021, the case remains in pretrial stages. The case, Laudato said, continues to cost taxpayers money.

“The sheriff’s presence on the turnpike has also dramatically increased our expenditures as a county and has caused conflict with the State Highway Patrol. Again, commissioners can’t micromanage to that level. It’s up to the voters to decide if that’s the leadership they want. But when it comes to revenues and expenditures, the commissioners are the ultimate checks and balances.”

Some areas of the county have instituted wind and solar moratoriums. What is your take? What do you say to people who are concerned about climate change?

“Rootstown, Streetsboro and other areas of the county are dealing with these issues now in terms of allowing residential vs commercial. There’s a concern that foreign countries like China will buy up our agricultural spaces, and I share that concern.”

“Regarding climate change, Portage County has already seen an impact with an increase in flooding and tornadoes. Aging infrastructure has made it difficult to accommodate increased weather events such as these. The adverse impact is lost business, lost revenue and people unable to stay in their homes.”

“Portage County has many ecologically sensitive areas like our bogs and fens. Education and awareness about human activity’s role in its preservation is something I would encourage. I would also support budget measures that are meant to address that issue in terms of drainage and infrastructure improvements, and I really think this is going to be a public health issue eventually.”

What do you think about municipalities that have restricted marijuana sales within their borders?

A member of Ravenna’s Planning Commission, Laudato recommended that city council place a one-year moratorium on adult-use marijuana dispensaries.

The moratorium limits licensed dispensaries, cultivators and processors to the city’s business district. City council approved the moratorium in May, excluding Supergood, one of Portage County’s two medical marijana dispensaries. The other is Bliss Ohio, located in Kent.

“Columbus has completely made this a nightmare. They kept changing things down in Columbus, so at some point I was like, ‘We just need to put the brakes on this until Columbus decides what it’s going to do, and then we’ll just work around that.’ We were just wasting too much time and resources and then they kept changing things.”

“The one thing that really irks me is that anyone in Columbus is changing it at all. This was a ballot initiative put on by the citizens, passed overwhelmingly. They’re also doing it with reproductive rights. They’re holding that hostage down there. People need to think long and hard about who they’re sending down to Columbus, and how they feel about ballot initiative reform. I feel like they do not have the right to change what the people voted for.”

The county recently acquired the Portage County Regional Airport and is spending significant taxpayer dollars on repair, upgrades and personnel. What is your take on the acquisition and the airport itself?

“There are more beneficial things the county could be investing in than this airport. I don’t see it as an economic tool when only four or five businesses even use it. We do have infrastructure and connectivity needs, but an airport seems like a luxury to me when we do not have bike paths, walking paths or bus route demands met, which service a lot more people and also attract people to live and start businesses here.”

“I am a lot more concerned about Portage County being a birthing desert. If we can’t find places for women in our county to give birth, I am a lot less concerned about someone being able to land their recreational plane or five CEOs flying in people to visit.”

With the recent revaluations, some people will have a difficult time paying their property taxes, which are set to increase at least 15%, and that’s only on inside millage. How do you see the commissioners helping those people?

“This is more something that the treasurer and auditor have a role in. As a commissioner, there needs to be security in knowing that we are being the best stewards of those funds. Portage County is already at the max for sales tax, which is crazy. Avoiding anything that would increase burdens for taxpayers is important and being open to innovative programs to implement here would reduce the burden.”

Affordable public housing for low-income working individuals and families, people with disabilities and senior citizens is all but nonexistent in Portage County. Do you see the commissioners addressing that issue?

“It is not being addressed in any meaningful way. This is the problem when all of the county’s resources are being allocated to benefit one department. Safety is not just crime and punishment; it is also having a roof over your head and being able to access that housing. Habitat for Humanity is always doing wonderful things, but this problem is bigger than what nonprofits can accomplish.”

“This is not a Portage County problem, though. This is a national crisis. Seattle is doing some interesting things to address it, such as giving nonprofits bonding authority to build affordable housing that is scaled according to income. I would support something like that, and I know we have the talent and visionaries in our various departments to pull it off.”

Public transportation is sorely lacking throughout Portage County, to the point that people cannot count on it to get to and from work and school in a timely manner. How do you see the commissioners addressing this issue?

“Again, we just keep getting back to this budget issue and how choking off all these other departments so one can thrive has hurt people across the board. This is a problem that doesn’t make sense to me in the same conversation as trying to advocate for an airport. We have a more common and dire need for those with limited transportation means.”

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Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.