Interview with Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri

Fortify Geauga President Tiffanie Broadbent sat down for a discussion with Geauga County Commissioner, Ralph Spidalieri. Mr. Spidalieri is running for reelection as Geauga County Commissioner. His opponent is current Geauga County GOP Chair, Nancy McArthur.

The discussion covered many topics, including:

• Mr. Spidalieri’s personal history of public service,
• significant happenings during his time as a Commissioner,
• the challenges he envisions for the next set of Commissioners,
• Taxes,
• Attendance in office,
• NOACA,
• his philosophy of government and management style as Commissioner,
• the relationship between the Commissioner’s office and law enforcement, and
• his hopes for our county.

Please see detailed timestamps below so you can go directly to the topics of interest to you.

Part 1

00:00    Introduction

00:38    Tell us about yourself (years in Geauga County, other jobs, history of public service)

03:06    What would you say are some of the accomplishments that you have from your time at the Commissioner’s office?

11:10    What are the challenges that you foresee for (the next) term or things that you are specifically…looking out for, or really want to work on?

14:11    What is it that you or any Commissioner can do to help alleviate the tax burden and the other expenditures that are going on for our residents?

17:20    Can  you give me a quick rundown of day to day or week to week what the duties of the Commissioner are and…how much time that takes and how you balance that with the other things that you do?

Part 2

0:00       So you have been exposed to many different people working alongside you as Commissioners…In your opinion, what makes a Commissioner successful or unsuccessful – what qualities?

04:01    The word that keeps coming to mind as you describe (the Commissioner’s job) is management – managing relationships, managing resources, managing departments…What would you say is…your philosophy of management when it comes to the Commissioner’s role?

5:41       My last question is …about NOACA. It’s a hot topic for lots of people….I was wondering what you’re envisioning, where you think relationship is going to go…What are you thinking?

13:34    If…the citizens in Lake County and the government in Lake County…started to see reason about how unfairly balanced that NOACA board is, if they were willing to entertain forming another MPO…would you be open to it?

14:21    Wrap up and final thoughts

Fortify Geauga articles on Mr. Spidalieri’s opponent:
…Nancy McArthur’s Legacy of Questionable Behavior
Establishment GOP Attacking Tea Party, Squawking About “Fake Slate Cards”

March 19th Primary Links:
Information on all Republican Geauga County Commissioner candidates in the Primary
Issue and Candidates
How, When & Where to Vote
Find Your Sample Ballot