Fri Jul 30 2010
by Eric Marotta
News Leader Editor
Democrats will retain their hold on the county's chief executive spot, after incumbent Russ Pry defeated his Republican challenger Jim Laria Nov. 4.
According to final, but unofficial results from the Summit County Board of Elections, Pry earned re-election with a vote of 145,724 (60.8 percent) to 94,058 (39.2 percent).
Pry, who served as the county's Democratic party chairman from 1998 to last January, was appointed by the party in July 2007 to fill the remainder of retired Executive James B. McCarthy's unexpired term.
Pry's first full term begins Jan. 1, 2009, and ends Dec. 31, 2012.
"I want to thank the voters of Summit County for giving me this opportunity," Pry said Nov. 6. "In the 15 months that I've been here I've been working hard ... in large part, we have been able to show that the cities and the county and the state can make a difference by working together."
Laria, who serves as Akron Municipal Clerk of Courts, did not return phone calls by press time.
Pry said his top priority is job growth and job development, and added he has worked hard to secure more than $1 billion in public and private funding for projects, including development that will keep Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Firestone in Akron.
Pry said he has also supported a biological research facility that all three Akron hospitals are partnering in, and is encouraging development of a regional fire training and truck driving training center that would be based at the University of Akron.
As part of that leadership effort, Pry said his administration has developed a draft agreement for communities in which they would agree not to poach each other's businesses and to share income tax revenues for a certain time period if a business moves from one county community to another. He said that initiative is in the process of being presented to all the various communities in the county.
E-mail: emarotta@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3171
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Stowsentry.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Record Publishing Co, LLC. 1995-2010. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications