Today is Nov. 8, 2023.

• Good morning! It’s going to be 57 degrees today with considerable cloudiness and a passing shower — there might even be a rumble of thunder. The low tonight will be 50, but after today things get a little chillier, with lows dropping to 31 degrees by Sunday night. In other words, we’re right around average for this time of year.
  

• Welcome to our special Wednesday edition of The Spotlight! We’re publishing a day earlier than usual to give you all the local results from Election Day (you’ll see them just a little further down this newsletter). We’ll resume our normal Thursday publishing schedule next week, so look for your next issue of The Spotlight on Nov. 16.
  

• Well, this is it: Stow City Council is scheduled to hold its third and final reading of the Miller’s Landing subdivision proposal, followed by a vote approving or rejecting the measure, at its next meeting Thursday, Nov. 9. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers (first floor of City Hall) at 3760 Darrow Rd.
  

• The 2023 leaf pick-up programs are underway in our communities. Stow started Oct. 30 and runs through Dec. 8, Munroe Falls also started Oct. 30 and runs through Dec. 8, and Silver Lake started Oct. 30 and runs through Dec. 3. Click on the links for all the leaf pick-up details in your town.
  

• If you just subscribed or missed something in an earlier newsletter, don’t fret: Subscribers have access to every edition of The Spotlight at www.stowmunroefalls.com. Check out back issues to catch up on everything that’s going on in our communities — you never know what you might have missed!
  

• Several stories in this issue are only available to premium subscribers: Upcoming nature activities and chess training, a Heritage House update, local Veterans Day events, and more. Full access is $2.99/month.

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2023 General Election

The people have spoken: Pribonic’s “team” takes control of city council; Dems earn clean sweep with school board victories

If Election Day was a referendum on John Pribonic’s job performance as mayor of Stow, then the results of Tuesday, Nov. 7 speak volumes. Five of the seven candidates Pribonic endorsed for city council were victorious, flipping that governing body over to the Democrats.

These victories included ousters of Council President Jeremy McIntire and Ward 2 Council Member Sindi Harrison — the latter losing to newcomer Kelly Coffey, a registered independent who was part of Pribonic’s endorsement team.

For his part, Pribonic ran unopposed in the mayoral election to earn a second term — another testament to his popularity in the city. He has served as Stow’s mayor since December 2018.

In other local races:

• Democrats retained their majority on the Stow-Munroe Falls City Schools Board of Education, giving the party control of both council and the school board.

• Allen Mavrides easily won reelection as mayor of Munroe Falls.

• Therese Dunphy scored a resounding victory in the Silver Lake mayoral race. Dunphy, who currently serves as vice president of village council, will replace longtime mayor Bernie Hovey, who opted not to run again after serving in that role since 2006.

Election tally:

With 100% of precincts reporting and all walk-in ballots counted, here are the results from the 2023 General Election. Some mail-in ballots have yet to be tabulated (winners in all caps and bold type; asterisk denotes incumbent):

CITY OF STOW

• Mayor — *JOHN PRIBONIC (unopposed): 100% (2,275).

• Director of Finance — KELLY TOPPIN (unopposed): 100% (1,962).

• Director of Law — *JAIME MARIE SYX (unopposed): 100% (2,033).

• Council-At-Large (vote for 3) — *CYLE FELDMAN: 23.92% (1,414); KYLE HERMAN: 23.07% (1,364); *DAVID A. LICATE: 22.43% (1,326); *Jeremy McIntire: 17.39% (1,028); Scott Simpkins: 13.19% (780).

• Ward 1 Council (vote for 1) — *MATT RIEHL: 50.68% (333); Nick Stoiber: 49.32% (324). [Note: Final outcome could be dependent on results of outstanding mail-in ballots].

• Ward 2 Council (vote for 1) — KELLY COFFEY: 57.86% (390); *Sindi Harrison: 42.14% (284).

• Ward 3 Council (vote for 1) — JOHN M. BARANEK: 55.25% (221); *Brian Lowdermilk: 44.75% (179).

• Ward 4 Council (vote for 1) — *MARIO FIOCCA: 54.94% (328); Jared Miller: 45.06% (269).

CITY OF MUNROE FALLS

• Mayor (vote for 1) — *ALLEN MAVRIDES: 53.85% (196); Jim Iona: 23.90% (87); Mike Barnes: 22.25% (81).

• Council-At-Large (vote for 2) — DINA EDWARDS: 41.17% (212); ADAM VANHO: 29.51% (152); *John Hegnauer: 29.32% (151). [Note: Final outcome of race between VanHo and Hegnauer could be dependent on results of outstanding mail-in ballots].

• Ward 2 Council — BOB POST (write-in; unopposed): 100% (19).

• Ward 3 Council — *AL PRINCE (unexpired term to end 12-31-2025; unopposed): 100% (96).

VILLAGE OF SILVER LAKE

• Mayor (vote for 1) — THERESE DUNPHY: 81.34% (170); Annmarie Lann: 18.66% (39).

• Council-At-Large (vote for 3) — *BETSY MEYER: 27.54% (122); *CHRISTOPHER SCOTT: 21.44% (95); SUZANNE GARRETT: 19.64% (87); Wesley JD Perry: 16.70% (74); James Kurtz: 14.67% (65).

STOW-MUNROE FALLS CITY SCHOOL BOARD

• (vote for 3) — *NANCY BROWN: 30.84% (1,758); *KARI SUHADOLNIK: 27.89% (1,590); MIKE SHEEHAN: 21.86% (1,246); Mike Daniels: 19.40% (1,106).

STOW BALLOT ISSUES

• ISSUE 28: Transparency in Government (charter amendment requiring the streaming of meetings of council, committees, boards and commissions of the city) — YES: 85.46% (2,168); No: 14.54% (369).
  — Full Text: “Shall Section 21.09 “TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT” of Article XXI “GENERAL PROVISIONS” of the Charter of the City of Stow be established (as listed below): ARTICLE XXI GENERAL PROVISIONS. SECTION 21.09 TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT. As of January 1, 2024, all meetings of municipal bodies, including City Council, and all City Boards, Commissions, and Committees (chartered or codified) shall commence live public broadcasting and recording of all their public meetings. “Live public broadcasting” means the live audio and video transmission of a public meeting over the internet in its entirety, without editing. Public meetings or portions of public meetings that by law are held in executive session shall be exempt from the requirements of this section. Municipal bodies shall remain responsible for determining the time and place of their meetings so long as they remain in compliance with the requirements of this section.”

• ISSUE 29: State of the City Address (charter amendment for the mayor to provide the State of the City address at a city council meeting so it is on the official city record) — YES: 87.18% (2,211); No: 12.82% (325).
  — Full Text: “Shall Section 3.08 “STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS” of Article III “MAYOR” of the Charter of the City of Stow be established (as listed below): ARTICLE III MAYOR. SECTION 3.08 STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS. The Mayor shall provide the City of Stow Council members and the city residents with a “State of the City Address” on an annual basis to be held at the first regularly scheduled meeting of Council in March of each year. A written copy of the address shall be provided to the Clerk of Council on or before the meeting date.”

• ISSUE 30: Clerk of Council (charter amendment for the clerk of council’s office to be in City Hall and near Council Chambers) — YES: 82.52% (2,025); No: 17.48% (429).
  — Full Text: “Shall Section 4.05 “CLERK OF COUNCIL” of Article IV “THE COUNCIL” of the Charter of the City of Stow be stricken and rewritten (language to be stricken through and language to be amended or added is bolded): ARTICLE IV THE COUNCIL. SECTION 4.05 CLERK OF COUNCIL. A Clerk of Council shall be appointed by, and may be removed by, Council. The Clerk’s office shall be in City Hall, adjacent to the Council Chambers and the Clerk shall devote the time and effort as determined by Council during business hours, and such other times as are necessary, to properly conduct the business of City Council. The Clerk of Council shall keep an accurate and complete journal of all proceedings of Council, authenticate by his/her signature and have custody of all laws, ordinances, and resolutions of Council, have custody of all official documents, reports, papers, communications, and files of Council, and perform such other duties as Council shall require. During the absence or disability of the Clerk of Council, Council shall appoint someone to perform all the duties of that office.”

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