Summit County Republicans argued for years that the county fiscal officer should be a certified public accountant because of the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing through the office each year.
There’s no such concern this election.
Two CPAs are seeking the four-year position: Democrat Kristen Scalise and Republican Ron Antal.
Scalise, 45, of Cuyahoga Falls, was appointed by the county Democratic Party to the position last year after longtime Fiscal Officer John Donofrio retired in mid term. She had worked at the fiscal office for more than a decade before the appointment and was serving as chief deputy fiscal officer at the time.
Antal, 47, of Boston Heights, is managing director of the Research Credit Group in Stow. He also is a member of the Boston Heights Village Council.
Fiscal officer is a key position in the county, yet not many voters are aware of the breadth of the office. It handles everything from tax collections to county payroll to investments to dog licenses.
The fiscal officer, who is paid $109,420 annually, oversees about 155 workers and an annual budget of about $14 million.
Scalise, who has an accounting degree from the University of Akron, is pushing her experience and passion.
“I understand the office,” said Scalise, who is single and has an adult son. “We process over a billion dollars a year here. We’re the main depository for the entire county. As a certified fraud examiner, not only am I trained to investigate fraud, but more importantly to prevent it. I’ve put in place internal controls, so we balance to the penny on a daily basis.”
Antal, who has a mathematics and economics degree from Youngstown State University and master’s in taxation from the University of Baltimore, is pushing his business background and the fact he’s not part of the political system.
“The people in the positions are going to be the best ones irrespective of what party they are from to help the county,” said Antal, who is married and has two children. “That’s really just the bottom line. I think you need a different perspective. You need the perspective of a business person.”
Both Scalise and Antal have had public relations stumbles this year.
Scalise hired the daughter of a high-paid county administrator to handle community relations for her office without interviewing anyone else for the job. That led to complaints about nepotism.
Meanwhile, it was revealed Antal has failed to pay property taxes on time for several years. That lead to complaints about how someone who can’t pay his taxes wants to oversee property tax collections.
For more details about the candidates, check out their campaign websites:
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.