Wickliffe Ward 3 has 3 contenders

Three candidates running for the Wickliffe Ward 3 City Council seat will be narrowed down to two after the Sept. 19 nonpartisan primary election.

The election, required by the city’s charter, is being held because more than twice the number of candidates to be elected filed petitions.

Incumbent Ron Ely will appear on the ballot alongside William J. Faehnrich and Joe Sakacs. The top two vote getters will advance to the Nov. 7 general election.

There are 2,183 eligible voters in Ward 3 according to the Lake County Elections Board. The candidate who wins the November election will serve a four-year term and make $7,600 annually.

Ely

Ely, 68, has served as a Wickliffe City Council member for the past eight years. Among his goals is launching an examination into the costs used to negotiate wages of city employees.

“If the examination of our present methodology proves not conducive to the health of our city, we should generate alternatives,” he said. “The costs today are a strain of human resources and budget.”

He said he also wants an examination of the budget that shows the evolution of the costs and income throughout years past, with highlights of the cost of human resources. Using this data would present a future model showing where Wickliffe will be going forward in two year increments over the next 10 years, he said.

Among his other goals, Ely said the city should foster business development that addresses complaints regarding the Euclid Avenue business district.

Faehnrich

Faehnrich, 53, is a software quality engineer for PNC. One issue he is focusing on is economic development. He is a member of the Euclid Avenue Corridor Action Committee, whose goal is to help foster the resurgence of Euclid Avenue.

“For this to succeed we need elected officials who are willing to think outside the box and to take responsibility for the outcomes,” he said.

He also wants to create a business advisory board consisting of small, medium and large business to advise the city on business-related issues.

Additionally, he wants to develop and maintain “open, honest, transparent lines of communication” to inform them of issues affecting the city using “email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc.”

Sakacs

Sakacs, 44, a self-employed draft technician, said he wants to focus on the city’s financial state. He also wants to create a mayor’s court in Wickliffe.

He said he’s talked with people from a neighboring city that currently has a mayor’s court that generates more than $1 million annually. He wants to sit down with the law director and police chief “to really focus on making this a reality.”

He also wants to generate ways to increase public safety in the city. Sakacs also said he wants to make city information more transparent to residents.

“Not everyone is able to attend the scheduled meetings but that doesn’t mean that don’t care and they have a right to be informed,” he said.