5 File for Ward 2 Seat, Will Face Off in Primary

Five candidates have filed with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for the Ward 2 council seat.

Nate Cross, Marie A. Novak, Nick C. Nunnari, Steven J. Presley and Brian Thompson have filed for the seat currently held by Jim Connole.

March 8 was the filing deadline.

Connole previously said he would not seek re-election. In January, Coonole, who has represented Ward 2 since 2001, had filed with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections as a candidate for president of City Council.

Cross is a member of the Westlake City Schools Board of Education. Thompson is an attorney and certified public accountant. In 2011, Cross raised concerns about increased expenses in the district over the last decade, particularly personnel costs, as well as the five-year forecast. Nunnari is employed in the service department at John Lance Ford in Westlake.

Presley is the former finance director of Bay Village. He left that position, which he held for 20 years, to accept a position as finance director and city administrator for Pepper Pike. In February, he returned to a Bay Village council meeting to review the need for a new telephone system for the City of Bay Village municipal departments, work he had begun previously to his departure late last year.

Presley is the Chairman of the Westlake Civil Service Department.

Connole had announced in 2010 that he planned to step down from his council position, but later changed his mind. Cross, Nunnari, Presley and Thompson were four of 11 people who had applied to fill the seat if Connole resigned.

Novak is an attorney and registered nurse. She volunteers extensively with the Westlake Early Childhood PTA (WECPTA) and the Westlake Council of PTAs.

With five running, a nonpartisan primary vote will take place May 7, the only Westlake Primary. The top two vote getters will face each other in the Nov. 8 general election.

Ward 6 councilman Mark Getsay is being challenged by Robert Koenig.

Mayor Dennis Clough, Law Director John Wheeler, Ward 3 Councilman Dennis Sullivan, Ward 4 Councilman Michael O'Donnell and Ward 5 Councilman Kenneth Brady are running unopposed.