Cleveland State University Levin College of Urban Studies held a Executive Candidate Forum- I strongly recommend you watch the video if you were not there. WATCH THE VIDEO!
Let me introduce myself to you...
My name is Ronald Finnerty
and I am running for the District 8
Cuyahoga County Council seat.
My background is not as a politician but in Business Management.
So, If I am a business man and not a politician WHY am I qualified to be on the council?
To explain why I am running for the council I need to clearify what the council will do.
The annual Cuyahoga County Budget is over $ 1.5 Billion dollars. Yes, that’s BILLION.
The county has over 8,000 employees working for it.
They represent the interests of 1.3 Million residents and businesses of Cuyahoga County.
The best analogy for the soon to be Cuyahoga County Council and Executive system is a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and a Board of Directors of a very large corporation.
The County Executive as Leader (CEO)
The County Executive is chosen because they have a vision for where the county should go.
The Council reviews those initiatives and examines and votes their approval or disapproval of those initiatives.
The Council Decisions and Votes
The council reviews and votes on ALL functional county departments' funding requests and program requests requiring spending some of the county monies collected from Taxpayers and other government programs.
This is an area where individual council people can champion specific initiatives, such as Reduction of Inefficientcies, Health and Welfare, Economic Development Programs to bring in new compnaies and jobs.
Politician vs Businessman
Why would you want a politician in a position that requires someone who can review and understand the management and operation of a BIG business?
I recommend everyone read this recent research paper on the effectiveness of CHANGE MANAGEMENT
You want me for the council
You want someone such as Ronald Finnerty that has over 20 years as a business manager to review and make business value decisions on how the county money is spent.