By Matt Fredmonsky
Record-Courier staff writer
The state of the economy and its impact on municipal finances is the primary focus for the candidates seeking the Kent mayor’s office and a seat on Kent City Council.
In the race for mayor, current At-large Councilman Rick Hawksley, a Democrat, is running against former mayor and council member Jerry Fiala, who held office as a Democrat but is running this fall as an independent.
Five people are campaigning for council’s three at-large seats. Incumbent Democrats Michael DeLeone and Robin Turner face competition from Democrat Vic Hart and independents Erik Valenta and Drew Smith.
Jerry Fiala
In the mayor’s race, Fiala said he wants to support job retention and creation to increase the city’s income tax revenue with the goal of reducing service costs passed on to residents.
“To achieve it is to promote the positives of Kent and bring more businesses into Kent,” Fiala said. “Acorn Alley was really a pot of gold for the city. This was one person who took money out of his own wallet and invested in Kent because he sees the city turning around. These are the kinds of things we have to work for.”
Fiala served as mayor for one year in 1997 after being appointed to the position following Mayor Kathleen Chandler’s election to the Ohio House of Representatives. Hawksley has served on council since 2001.
Rick Hawksley
When asked about the biggest problem facing council, Hawksley said the city has a number of weighty issues to tackle.
“The thing that comes to everybody’s mind is of course the long-term financial condition of the city,” he said. “Because of the economy, our income tax base is not increasing as rapidly as our costs are. The city has a lot of good economic development issues in the pipeline, but I don’t think we’ve done a systematic evaluation of how that balances out and where the two lines cross.”
Michael DeLeone
DeLeone has served on council for 12 years and wants to see some of the things he’s helped start on council finished.
“I’d like to see the economic development factors going on, redeveloping the downtown, expanding businesses in the city,” he said. “That’s the only way we’re going to broaden our tax base.”
The 49-year-old is an employee with Franklin Township and has lived in Kent all his life.
Robin Turner
In January 2008, council appointed Turner to fill the vacancy created by the death of Councilman William Schultz. Turner has run unsuccessfully in the past for both council and mayor.
Turner said the big issue facing council members and city administrators is economic development.
“And we have to do it in a way that does not degrade the character of the community,” he said. “We have to work toward developing a more clear strategic plan for the city, so we can focus our abilities on exactly what resources, energies and effort we’re going to be putting forward in the future for the community.”
Vic Hart
Hart has lived in Kent for 50 years and previously served on the Kent Board of Zoning Appeals. He ran eight years ago for council unsuccessfully.
For Hart, his biggest issue is “clearly the future of the budget,” he said. “Expenditures, income, balancing it and prioritization of what we want to do.”
The Theodore Roosevelt High School graduate believes in historic preservation.
“I think we have to enhance the relationships and the partnerships between the university and the city,” Hart said.
Jeff Smith
Smith, the other newcomer, also has lived in Kent for about four years. The 23-year-old candidate wants to see the city complete its update to the zoning code in a way that makes it easier for new businesses to move into Kent.
As a former Kent State University student, Smith said he sees the issues that affect both sides of the town-and-gown relationship.
“Both groups of people, I feel, want the same thing, but it seems like there’s a lot of miscommunication, which is what kind of breeds that separation,” he said. “And I’d like to work on bridging that gap.”
Erik Valenta
Erik Valenta, 39, has lived in Kent for the past four years and in Portage County for 10 years. The professional writer also believes the city needs to increase its revenue.
“So we don’t cut any services,” he said. “We have done quite a bit for our community in bringing the parks and green aspects, but we also need to focus on bringing business into our community and retaining the businesses that we have.”