Contributors: Becky Alexander, Rachel Jamison, Deb Wang, and Aaron Yeager.
November’s General Election will focus on local candidates and state-wide issues. From enshrining reproductive rights and health care into the Ohio constitution (Yes on Issue 1!) to funding programs and services for neighbors with disabilities, read on for our recommendations on who and what to vote for, including a sample ballot for Stow.
Table of Contents
1. Important dates for voting
2. Sample ballot for Stow, Ohio
3. Details on candidates and issues
Important dates for voting
ELECTION DAY IS TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2023.
Polls open at 6:30 AM and close at 7:30 PM. You can find your polling location by looking up your name on the Board of Elections website.
Other important dates are below:
| Date(s) | Deadline Description |
|---|---|
| 9/22 | Military and overseas absentee voting begins. |
| 10/10 | Deadline to register to vote. |
| 10/31 | Absentee ballot applications must be received by Summit County Board of Elections. |
| 10/11 – 11/7 | Early in-person voting at the Summit County Board of Elections. Final deadline for hand-delivery is Election Day, Nov. 7, 7:30 PM. Board of Elections open on select weekend days: 1. Saturday, 11/4 2. Sunday, 11/5 For early voting, you must apply for and return an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots must be returned to the Board of Elections, not polling stations. |
| 10/11 – 11/6 | Absentee voting by mail. *Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Mon., Nov. 6 and received by the Board of Elections by Fri., Nov. 10. |
Sample ballot for Stow, Ohio
Below is a sample ballot for Stow, Ohio, with our voting recommendations. If you live somewhere else in Summit County, you can find your sample ballot by looking up your name on the Board of Elections website.
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Details on candidates and issues
Read about our recommendations and endorsements below.
For more information, check out the Akron Beacon Journal’s Stow Voter Guide (not subscribed? See this free version.)
Table of Contents
City of Stow Candidates
Mayor
John Pribonic
ENDORSED BY STOW COLLABORATION FOR CHANGE
Incumbent John Pribonic is running unopposed.
We think Mr. Pribonic deserves your vote due to his work to provide family-friendly community spaces in the form of the Stow City Center Project, with a new Skip Playground funded without raising taxes. Mr. Pribonic has also consistently supported mental health and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Stow. His leadership is informed by focus groups and surveys that highlight the priorities of Stow residents.
Director of Finance
Kelly Toppin
Incumbent Kelly Toppin is running unopposed and is endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Director of Law
Jaime Marie Syx
Incumbent Jaime Marie Syx is running unopposed and is endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Members of Council at Large
Cyle Feldman
Cyle Feldman is running on a slate for Council at Large endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Kyle Herman
ENDORSED BY STOW COLLABORATION FOR CHANGE
Kyle Herman is running on a slate for Council at Large endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
We think Mr. Herman deserves your vote for his plans to create a more vibrant and accessible city. His priorities include developing walkable business zones, protecting Stow’s public parks and green spaces, and supporting more public art. Mr. Herman has a track record of advocating for more responsive democracy through his work with Rank the Vote Ohio and prior public service on the city’s Civil Service Commission.
David A. Licate
David Licate is running on a slate for Council at Large endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Member of Council (First Ward)
Nick Stoiber
Nick Stoiber is running on a slate for Council (Ward 1) endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Member of Council (Second Ward)
Kelly Coffey
Kelley Coffey is running on a slate for Council (Ward 2) endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Member of Council (Third Ward)
John M. Baraneck
John M. Baranek is running on a slate for Council (Ward 3) endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Member of Council (Fourth Ward)
Jared Miller
Jared Miller is running on a slate for Council (Ward 4) endorsed by Mayor John Pribonic.
Members of Board of Education
Vote for ONLY Suhadolnik and Brown
While you are able to vote for 3 candidates, we recommend ONLY voting for Kari Suhadolnik and Nancy Brown.
Kari Suhadolnik
ENDORSED BY STOW COLLABORATION FOR CHANGE
Kari Suhadolnik is running for election to the Stow-Munroe Falls School District Board of Education (BoE), after being appointed to the Board in 2022.
We endorsed Ms. Suhadolnik in a full candidate profile last month. We think she deserves your vote for her track record of supporting anti-bullying policies and anti-racism policies, along with making extracurricular activities more accessible to all students by working to eliminate the ‘pay-to-participate’ model. Her top priorities include reducing the shortage of educators and support staff, fostering a safe environment for all students, and creating an ADA-compliant* facilities plan.
*Americans with Disabilities Act
Nancy Brown
ENDORSED BY STOW COLLABORATION FOR CHANGE
Nancy Brown is running for re-election to the Stow-Munroe Falls School District BoE, where she has served since January 2020 and is currently Board President.
We endorsed Ms. Brown in a full candidate profile last month. We think she deserves your vote for her track record of supporting anti-bullying policies and anti-racism policies, as well as running an efficient, productive board. Her top priorities include fighting for public school funding, passing a bond issue to create a facilities plan, and upholding the integrity of public education against attempts to sanitize history.
State of Ohio Issues
Issue 1: A Self-Executing Amendment Relating to Abortion and Other Reproductive Decisions, Proposed Constitutional Amendment
We recommend voting “YES.”
Issue 1 would protect reproductive freedoms in Ohio, by establishing a state constitutional right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including “contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”
If Issue 1 fails, Ohio politicians will have the opportunity to push through an extreme abortion ban, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and could potentially even ban birth control. Last year, we saw Ohio lawmakers attempt to push through a six-week abortion ban (‘heartbeat law’). While the ban was in affect (before being blocked by a federal judge a few months later), ”patients’ lives were put at risk, healthcare was delayed or denied, and Ohioans were even forced to flee our state to get the care they needed.”
If Issue 1 does not pass, we are likely to see these radical abortion restrictions return, potentially even more extreme than last year’s six-week abortion ban. These restrictions could even impose felony criminal liability on anyone who receives, performs, aids, or abets an abortion.
If passed, Issue 1 will return Ohio to a ‘pre-overturned Roe vs. Wade’ state. The Amendment would guarantee that the state could not interfere in a person’s decisions about contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and other reproductive care.
VOTE YES on Issue 1 to take a stand for our personal autonomy, keep the government out of our private, personal medical decisions, and protect our right to reproductive healthcare.
Issue 2: To Commercialize, Regulate, Legalize, and Tax the Adult Use of Cannabis, Proposed Law
We recommend voting “YES.”
Issue 2 would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana for adults aged 21 and above, including cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, and home growth. If passed, Issue 2 would allow:
- the sale and purchase of marijuana, which a new Division of Cannabis Control would regulate
- adults who are at least 21 years old to use and possess marijuana, including up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana
- enact a 10% tax on marijuana sales – 36% of this cannabis tax would be used for social equity and jobs programs, and 25% would be used for addiction treatment and education
Issue 2 would regulate marijuana for adult-use, just like we do for alcohol. The proposal fixes a broken system while ensuring local control, keeping marijuana out of the hands of children, and benefitting everyone. According to recent polling, Ohioans are not only in favor of legalizing marijuana for regulated adult-use, they view it as inevitable. Nineteen states have passed similar legislation, and Issue 2 is based on the best practices learned by those who have gone before us.
Despite the misinformation you may have seen, Issue 2 expressly prohibits advertising to minors, requires all products to be approved by state regulators, and limits sales to adults over 21 years of age. Additionally, Issue 2 would remove significant barriers in accessing medical marijuana for veterans under VA care and many cancer-afflicted Ohioans.
VOTE YES on Issue 2 to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana for adults, change the current antiquated laws in place, and make it easier to access for those who would benefit from medical marijuana.
Summit County/Stow Issues
Issue 17: Proposed Tax Levy (Replacement), County of Summit
We recommend voting “FOR THE TAX LEVY.”
The Summit County Developmental Disabilities Replacement Levy is crucial to ‘ensure that more than 5,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities continue to receive vital services to ensure their health, safety, and ability to live a good life.’
The levy is widely endorsed by businesses, community partners, government officials, and community members.
Without levy funding, early intervention services would be discontinued for 700 families with kids under the age of six; Special Olympic athletes would lose funding; school supports for teens transitioning to adulthood and the workforce would be discontinued; and access to current and future Medicaid funding for Summit County and its residents could be jeopardized.
Vote FOR THE TAX LEVY to ensure adults and children with developmental disabilities in Summit County continue to receive the vital services they need.
Issue 28: Proposed Charter Amendment, City of Stow
We recommend voting “NO.”
Issue 28 would require all meetings of municipal bodies, including City Council, and all City Boards, Commissions, and Committees (chartered or codified) to be publicly broadcasted live, and recorded.
Similar to previous issues proposed by City Council, this issue seems innocent and well-intentioned on the surface. However, members of City Council have continued to push hard against Mayor John Pribonic to prevent initiatives and appointments from moving forward. Issue 28 is another power grab by members of City Council.
These meetings (all meetings of municipal bodies, including City Council, and all City Boards, Commissions, and Committees) are already open to the public. Additionally, the audio of these meetings is already recorded and detailed minutes from these meetings are posted and available to the public.
The ONLY location that currently has video recording capabilities is City Council Chambers, meaning Issue 28 would require all meetings of municipal bodies, including City Council, and all City Boards, Commissions, and Committees, to be held in City Council Chambers – leading to huge scheduling issues since all boards and commissions will be forced to share the same meeting space.
We would welcome a funded initiative to equip more city government meeting locations with audio-visual streaming/recording. However, until additional meeting spaces are provided with the A/V streaming/recording capabilities required by Issue 28, we recommend VOTING NO, to avoid scheduling issues and delays in the important meetings necessary to run the City in a timely and efficient manner.
Issue 29: Proposed Charter Amendment, City of Stow
We recommend voting “NO.”
Issue 29 would require the Mayor to provide the City of Stow Council members and the city residents with a “State of the City Address” on an annual basis.
Like Issue 28, this issue seems innocent and well-intentioned on the surface. However, taking into consideration:
- the partisan-motivated behavior of members of City Council in past years and their continued effort to stop Mayor Pribonic’s initiatives and appointments in their tracks, and
- the fact that Mayor Pribonic already delivers a “State of the City Address” voluntarily, and always has
We have to consider that this is likely another effort by members of City Council to make Mayor Pribonic appear to be non-transparent. With this in mind, we recommend VOTING NO.
Issue 30: Proposed Charter Amendment, City of Stow
We recommend voting “NO.”
Issue 30 outlines a number of requirements for the Clerk of Council, including (among others):
- requiring their office to be be in City Hall, adjacent to the Council Chambers
- requiring the Clerk to devote the time and effort as determined by Council during business hours, and such other times as are necessary
Without the needed context, this issue seems like a pretty boilerplate outline of job requirements. However, members of City Council have been determined to get current Council Clerk Villers to quit. Villers is not aligned with these members as an ‘ally’ and works to do their job neutrally, as a Council Clerk should.
Members of Council recently hired a second Clerk of Council, stating they needed two Clerks, and then went on to cut Clerk Villers’ hours to part time. Issue 30 is another shot at a power grab by City Council Members, in an attempt to oust Clerk Villers.
Issue 30 is another misleading push by members of City Council to assert more control to further their interests, and therefore, we recommend VOTING NO.