Cuyahoga Soil and Water
Conservation District
2011 Supervisor Election

Soil and Water Conservation Districts, located in all 88 counties, are legal subdivisions of Ohio’s government providing natural resource management assistance to county landowners and other units of local government.  The Cuyahoga SWCD is currently funded through county and municipal appropriations, and state match dollars through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. 

Any resident 18 years of age or older who resides within the county may vote in the election of SWCD supervisors.

 

The Nominating Committee presents Patricia Carey of University Heights, Keith Linn of  Seven Hills, and Thomas Marsalis of Mayfield Village as candidates for two open positions.

Residents of Cuyahoga  County may vote for their favorite candidates by absentee ballot or in person at the Conservation Day event on  September 21, 2011 from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. at Lakewood City Park Women’s Pavilion.  

Contact the office at 216/524-6580, ext.10 to request an absentee ballot or click here to download the ballot request form.

 

Please make an informed decision by reviewing the candidate biographies below.

 

PATRICIA CAREY

Patricia Carey is completing her 2nd term on the Cuyahoga SWCD Board of Supervisors.  She serves as president of the Western Reserve Resource Conservation and Development Council,  which is comprised of Soil and Water representatives and citizens at-large who leverage national, local and private funding for natural resource projects, such as protecting river banks and teaching Hispanic immigrants to raise food for family and local markets.

Her recent positions have included director of the Cuyahoga Valley Regional Council of Governments, N. E. Ohio Director of Greater Ohio, and executive director of NORA. Her priorities are good land-use for healthy and sustainable communities, abundant natural resources and clean water. Pat resides in University Heights.

 

KEITH LINN

Keith Linn graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Heidelberg College.  He was employed by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District as the agency’s first Supervisor of Environmental Assessment and, later, as an Environmental Specialist in its Water Quality & Industrial Surveillance department.  Mr. Linn often spent time raising public awareness of water quality issues and was an advocate for responsible environmentalism.  Over the years, he served on and chaired numerous committees. His involvement included the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan, the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative, the Regional Environmental Priorities Project, and the Water Environment Research Foundation.     Mr. Linn chaired the Water Quality Committee of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies and, after his retirement in 2010, he was inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame.  Keith resides in Seven Hills.

 

THOMAS MARSALIS

Tom Marsalis received a Bachelor of Science from Cleveland State University. He retired from the City of Cleveland Division of Water Pollution Control in 2009 where he served as Deputy Commissioner, and supervised all areas of sewer maintenance,  including personnel, budget, vehicle maintenance, engineering, construction, inspection, customer service, outreach, sewer repair, sewer cleaning, and the Capacity Management Operation and Maintenance program. 

He served as the City of Cleveland's representative on the Cuyahoga RAP Technical Committee since 1990 and was an active member of the Northeast Ohio Storm Water Task Force that proposed storm water activities for communities to comply with the USEPA Storm Water mandated requirements.  He also wrote the City of  Cleveland Storm Water Compliance Permit application and the    annual reports.  He has lectured on storm water controls at conferences locally, nationally, and abroad.  In addition, Tom has been involved in coordinating public events, including the Big Creek clean up and City of Cleveland  Public Works Day. Tom resides in Mayfield Village.