Paul Ryan Rally at Walsh University Has Crowd Wowed (VIDEO)

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's new running mate received a warm welcome at a rally on Thursday.

While many at Thursday's rally for GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said they were familiar with his political ideas, going to the event was all about seeing the the newly minted GOP vice presidential candidate in the flesh. Nearly 2,000 people turned out at Walsh University on Thursday to get a glimpse of the 42-year-old congressman and hear first-hand about his ideas and political philosophy. Ryan is on his second day of visits to small Ohio colleges. He made a campaign stop Wednesday at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in solidly Republican Butler County. Ryan graduated from Miami University in 1992, the New York Times reports. The congressman from Wisconsin is less than a week out from being tapped as GOP presidential …

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School Board Members See Challenges, Opportunities In New Terms

Teacher contracts and school construction projects will be top priorities next year.

Recently elected school board members Tony Falcone, Tom Mays and Carol Winter agree that the district construction projects and teacher contract negotiations will be at the top of their agendas in 2012. “We need to see that come through on time and on budget,” Winter said. “I’m glad I get the chance to see those projects through the to end.” Both teachers’ union contracts expire at the end of 2012, which means board members are already discussing negotiations. “We’ve always been pushing the envelope with what our teachers have negotiated with us,” Winter said. “It’s been really nice that we were among the first communities to have teacher contribute 10 percent to their healthcare. We’ll keep moving in that direction because we want to make…

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Police and Fire Levy Up For Renewal

The five-year renewal will generate over $1 million for safety operations.

Voters will see a police and fire levy renewal on the ballot on Nov. 8. The passage of Issue 99 would amend the city charter to renew the levy for five years. The levy renewal would generate more than $1 million for the salaries of eight police officers and eight firefighters. Voters have cast their ballots in favor of the 0.9 mill tax levy since 1966. The issue will need a majority vote to pass. Read more election news on the Election Central page.

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Letter to the Editor: School District Is Facing Financial Crisis

High teacher salaries are not necessary to attract quality instructors to Westlake.

The Westlake School District is currently heading into a period of deep fiscal crisis, but you would be hard-pressed to see this fact being reported in our news media or by our politicians.  If you rely on their analysis, you would think that just because American Greetings is moving to Westlake, that all is rosy in this district.  This is far from the case. The reality is that the school district is facing a $3.4 million deficit by the end of this school year, one that increases every year to a whopping $12.4 million annually by 2015, which works out to over $850 per Westlake household!  How did we get here?  Considering that about 86% of the district budget is personnel costs, and the fact that Westlake currently ranks 17 out of 611 Ohio…

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Robert Bodi

11:03 am on Monday, November 7, 2011

Duane, your accusation of "this strategy of shouting something long enough so people may actually think you know what your saying is getting old" had me laughing out loud, coming from you, the expert!   more ›

Voter Registration Deadline Is Tuesday

Find out if you're registered and where to vote before election day.

Are you registered to vote in the Nov. 8 election? The deadline to register is Tuesday at 9 p.m. That’s also the deadline to make a change of address or change of name with the county board of elections. You can register at City Hall, Porter Public Library, the Westlake High School main office or Bay Village City Hall at 350 Dover Center Rd. If you aren’t sure if you're registered, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website has a tool that will check for you. Early voting is open now through Nov. 4 at the board of elections located at 2925 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The board of elections offices will have extended hours until 6 p.m. Nov. 4. If you prefer to vote by mail, make sure…

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Westlake School Board Candidates on Special Education

See what candidates had to say at the West Life forum on Sept. 29.

All seven school board candidates joined a forum hosted by West Life on Thursday evening at the Westlake High School Performing Arts Center. Here is each candidate's response to the question: How do you feel about the special education programs in Westlake and what is your five-year plan regarding special education programming? Robert Bodi "I don’t know a lot about special education programs in Westlake because I haven’t really investigated that part of the school system, but it is the responsibility of the school system to educate all the students in the community... I will say however that I’m disappointed that so much of the educational standards and educational requirements that are imposed on local districts come from federal rules …

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School Board Incumbents Discuss School Bond Issue

Candidates stated their positions at Thursday night's forum hosted by West Life.

Nearly 100 residents, parents and school board candidate supporters came out to the Westlake High School Performing Arts Center Thursday night to learn more about each of the seven candidates' platforms. Hosted by West Life, the moderated forum gave candidates a chance to explain their positions on everything from teacher contracts to school building maintenance. School Board incumbents Carol Winter and Tom Mays discussed their position on the latest school bond issue and the second phase of building improvements. For more election news and candidate profiles, visit the Election Central 2011 page.

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Editor's Notebook

Take Part In the Nov. 8 Election

Don't forget to register to vote or find your polling place.

Campaign flyers are showing up on doorknobs, and candidate posters are littering the front lawns. It's election season! Are you ready to make your voice heard? To make sure you're registered before the big election day on Nov. 8, visit the Am I Registered? page on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website. If you aren't registered, you must do so by Oct. 9. Here's how: Register To Vote In Person Porter Public Library: 27333 Center Ridge Rd., 440-871-2600 Westlake City Hall: 27216 Hilliard Blvd., 440-871-3300 Westlake High School: 27830 Hilliard Blvd., 440-835-6352 To make sure you're heading to the right polling place, visit the Where Do I Vote? page of the election board's website. Make sure to bring a state ID with you to vote. Make…

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Westlake School Board Election 2011: Laurie Gettings

As part of our election coverage, Westlake Patch will provide profiles of each of the candidates for school board.

Editor's Note: As part of Westlake Patch's local election coverage, we will provide profiles of each of the candidates running for office. These profiles will offer biographical and issue-oriented details about each of the candidates to help you, the voters, make more-informed decisions at the ballot box. Stay tuned for more coverage of the election. Name: Laurie Gettings    Date of Birth: Dec. 22, 1965 Occupation: Public Relations Consultant Education: Bachelor of Arts, communications Family: Married, with a 5-yearr-old and a 7-year-old who attend Bassett Elementary School Years residing in Westlake: 6 Office Sought: Westlake Board of Education Previous Public Offices Held: None Registered: Democrat  Email: lauriegettings@sbcglobal.net …

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Westlake School Board Election 2011: Robert Bodi

As part of our election coverage, Westlake Patch will provide profiles of each of the candidates for school board.

Editor's Note: As part of Westlake Patch's local election coverage, we will provide profiles of each of the candidates running for office. These profiles will offer biographical and issue-oriented details about each of the candidates to help you, the voters, make more-informed decisions at the ballot box. Stay tuned for more coverage of the election. Name: Robert F. Bodi Date of Birth: March 8, 1964 Occupation: Intellectual property attorney as partner at Pearne & Gordon LLP in Cleveland Education: Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Law Family: Wife Holly; son Andrew (8 years old, in third grade at Hilliard); and daughter Annabelle (6 years old, in first grade at Hilliard) Years residing in Westlake: 1.5 years Office Sought: …

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Westlake Resident-Joe Smith

7:40 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011

You feel that Westlake Schools losing $323,127 to fund charter schools has little impact on our schools and tax payers? You feel that MILLIONS more that flow from schools ranked Excellent or Excellent with Distinction has little impact? At what point do you feel the Westlake tax payers should be concerned that their tax dollars are funding charter schools and not their local district? What is the…   more ›