Reid says two issues at the top of his agenda are confronting blighted properties and population loss. And he says he'll be responsive to the needs of mayors throughout the county.
REID: "I stand for good government. I stand for good management. And I think that's what's first. I don't aspire to being anything other than being the county executive, and if I would be fortunate enough to win, the only aspiration I would have is to a second term. I think that's important: to have stability in the position and stability in the years to come."
Reid served as chief of police in Bedford for a decade before becoming city manager. Cuyahoga County Democrats appointed him sheriff in 2009, after Gerald McFaul resigned amid a criminal investigation.
FitzGerald asked Reid to resign earlier this year. Neither has fully explained why. Reid says they had different management styles.
Reid declined to name specific ways he might differ from FitzGerald as leader of the county. But he he says he’d continue work he began as sheriff to reduce the rate at which people released from jail turn back to crime.
Ohio House Minority Leader Armond Budish, State Sen. Shirley Smith and County Council President C. Ellen Connally, among a number of others, have been mentioned in the Plain Dealer as possible contenders for the county executive job as well.
