Democracy in action
A standing-room-only crowd packed the Bay Middle School cafeteria on Aug. 13 to hear from the four mayoral candidates up for election in the September primary. The two-hour forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters - Cuyahoga Area, Bay Village Chapter, featured opening and closing remarks from each candidate and questions from the audience. The evening marked the first public gathering of the three challengers – Claire Banasiak, Marty Mace and David Volle – and incumbent Deborah Sutherland.
Audience questions, reviewed by a panel of League members and posed by moderator Janice Patterson from the Westlake/North Olmsted Chapter, focused on a number of hot-button topics, including government transparency, regionalization, property taxes and abatements, power outages and city council actions. A recurring topic of discussion was the city’s budget and the candidates’ plans to maintain the Bay Village way of life in the face of dwindling revenues from the state.