Republican incumbent Steven Demetriou and Democrat Mark Curtis are candidates for state representative, 35th House District, which covers Mantua Township and the cities of Aurora and Streetsboro.
Demetriou did not respond to The Portager’s request for an interview.
Curtis is a former member of the Twinsburg City Schools Board of Education. He is currently director of technology with the Maple Heights City Schools. He said he is running for state rep so he can make an impact at the state level.
Your district was created in accordance with current redistricting rules. What is your take on the redistricting measure that is on the November ballot?
“I am in full support of issue one. It’s a nonpartisan issue. It’s not good for either political party to be drawing lines. There’s definitely a necessity to change the process so that people are choosing their representatives and the representatives are not choosing their voters, which is the way that it’s designed right now.”
Affordable public housing for low-income working people, people with disabilities and senior citizens is all but nonexistent in Portage County. Is there a way the state can help?
“I think the state has a real opportunity and obligation to make sure that housing is affordable, especially for people that have less means and also people with fixed incomes. There are opportunities to leverage the surplus that we currently have by offering grant opportunities or programs where people with less means or credit can access home loans in nontraditional ways.”
“Perhaps we create alternative pathways for people to either buy a home or opportunities where we can subsidize the rents that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. We should be able to do that through the state, either through block grants or by working collaboratively and collectively with local governments, to where, if they could have access to these funds, more people could apply for these funds directly at the local level.”
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 state legislators addressing this issue?
“There needs to be more of a significant investment in our transportation infrastructure. There have been conversations to expand railways, so people can get from one end of the state to the other. That sounds all well and good, but to the extent to which we have communities that can’t get to and from within their own community, I think this takes precedence over any conversation where you can jump on a bus or a train and you can get from Cleveland to Cincinnati quickly.”
“At the county level there needs to be more effort. Clearly, it’s not a financial problem. In my opinion, it’s a matter of priorities, where we want to spend the money. This isn’t for lack of knowledge. We’re not reinventing the wheel here. This is having the willpower to roll up your sleeves and get the work done in a way that makes it easy for the consumer.”
The Portage County sheriff recently encouraged his supporters to record the names and addresses of Harris/Walz supporters so immigrants, which he likened to a horde of “locusts,” would know where to find their new families. Do you feel that Portage County is a welcoming place for immigrants? Do special steps need to be taken, either to welcome or dissuade immigrants? What would those steps look like?
“I’m beyond troubled that an elected official would make such comments, such really degrading comments about a certain population. It’s beyond the pale. It’s even more troubling when the person is in law enforcement, because the bottom line is, when you’re an elected official, you are held to a higher standard.”
“We must do better in the language that we use because it matters, and your words carry power. Although the sheriff or the department may think that they are treating everyone equally, the words say otherwise, and it encourages other people to look at other people differently and possibly act and do something differently. We’ve all seen what happens when you do that from Jan. 6, and I think that it is extremely irresponsible and reckless to suggest what the sheriff did.”
“I don’t know that people are inclined to feel safe with any sheriff deputy because of the language that’s been used by the sheriff himself. It looks bad, and I know most folks in Portage County don’t feel this way, but when you gaslight a situation, it becomes dangerous for the people who are impacted by those words. So I think there’s definitely more to be done to make Portage County a more welcoming community.”
What is your take on the recent news and controversy surrounding the PCSO? What would you do to address the matter?
Curtis noted that neither state representatives nor county commissioners have the power to remove an elected county official, “but they can certainly speak out and repudiate what’s been said, and they can encourage people to seek an alternative in his opponent, Jon Barber. That’s probably the most expedient thing that needs to happen. Folks need to do their research and understand who they’re putting in office.”
“This is not a partisan issue. This is decency. Democrats and Republicans alike should repudiate the language and really stand firm that all citizens have a right to feel safe in their own communities. I question that. I question his ability to treat everyone fairly. I don’t feel that he’s fit to serve as sheriff with an attitude like that.”
With the latest revaluations, property taxes across Portage County are going up about 15%, and that’s just on inside millage. Our county auditor and treasurer have called for state legislators to fully implement and fund the Fair School Funding Plan, to loosen qualifications for the Homestead Exemption tax break and to revise HB 920, which they say unfairly places a burden on property owners. Do you support those measures? Would you introduce legislation to address these issues?
“The state needs to pay its fair share so people who are paying property taxes aren’t being taxed out of their homes. I am in support of legislation that rectifies that.”
“House Bill 920 puts local municipalities in a bind and it puts school districts in a bind whereby the only way they can generate revenue is by either putting bonds on the ballot or putting levies on the ballot. And I think the expansion of the Homestead Exemption is a step, but it doesn’t go far enough.”
“The Fair School Funding Plan is being phased in. However, the state has allocated a billion taxpayer dollars to go to private religious schools that are unaccountable, in my opinion. I think it’s unconstitutional. I think that funding two systems of schools is unsustainable. We’ve seen it in other states where it blows a hole in the budget, and I think that we are well on our way to doing that. I can’t see that you can justify continuing to fund both.”
Ohio voters recently voted to legalize recreational marijuana. The state legislature seems to be refusing to codify the law. What are your thoughts, and what would you do to respect the voters’ wishes?
“The General Assembly has an obligation to respect the will of the voters. Thus far, they have demonstrated the opposite. This is why redistricting is so important. It places power back to the people instead of special interests.”
Where do you stand on the issue of women’s reproductive health and rights?
“I am pro-choice. It is clear that the overwhelming majority of Ohio is in support of reproductive rights. Regardless of how you feel, the GA has an obligation to respect the will of the people and enshrine these rights in our constitution.”
“They have dragged their heels in interpreting what the people have asked. This is likely to end up at our state Supreme Court. Ohio has a rare opportunity to change the makeup of our Supreme Court. We need to elect justices that will respect the will of the people and uphold the rule of law.”
Asked to comment on anything else, Curtis spoke about House Bill 6, which he called “the biggest scandal in our state’s history.”
HB 6 was a $1 billion nuclear power plant bailout that benefitted FirstEnergy, the owner of two nuclear power plants in northern Ohio. Perry County state Rep. Larry Householder, who was elected speaker of the House in 2001 and 2019, was convicted in federal court of participating in FirstEnergy’s secret $60 million plan to secure his position, elect legislative allies and pass House Bill 6, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in 2019.
The bailout added a new fee to every electricity bill in the state and directed more than $150 million a year through 2026 to the two power plants.
Householder and several of his allies were arrested on racketeering charges in 2020. On June 29, 2023, Householder received the maximum sentence of two decades in federal prison. Having already paid a $231 million fine to federal prosecutors, in August of this year, FirstEnergy said it will pay $19.5 million to the state attorney general’s office. The company will also pay $500,000 for an independent consultant for ethics compliance and reform.
“The fact that the General Assembly has been in no hurry to do anything about this scandal so it never happens again is alarming to me. There seems to be no accountability with FirstEnergy beyond fines. The folks that accepted the bribes are being indicted and going to jail, but the people that paid the bribes, no one’s going to jail.”
“There’s no deterrent. It’s almost as if this is the cost of doing business in the statehouse. I think people need to know that they are paying the price for the corruption. We need to do better. The only way to do better is to change the makeup of the General Assembly so we can hold companies like FirstEnergy accountable and also pay back the taxpayers that are getting rate hikes without any accountability. I think we need to do better as a state.”
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.