Meet the Candidates – Broadview Heights City Council

October 19, 2023

Five seats on Broadview Heights City Council are up for grabs Nov. 7, including four ward council seats and three at-large council seats. In Wards 1 and 3, incumbent Tom Pavlica and Brian Dunlap are running unopposed. In Ward 2, incumbent Brian W. Wolf is being challenged by political newcomer Anthony Davis and in Ward 4, sitting Council President Robert Boldt is being challenged by political newcomer Shay Hawkins. For the at-large seats, incumbents Glenn R. Goodwin, Jennifer A. Mahnic and Joe Price are being challenged by Lyn M. Haselton.

The following are questions posed to the candidates by the BroadView Journal. Their answers were limited to 275 words. The following are their unedited responses.

Haselton, Hawkins and Price did not respond to our request seeking comments. ∞

1. What is your primary reason for running for a seat on city council?

Boldt: Broadview Heights is a great city. The main reason for running is to continue to make Broadview Heights a better place to live. We have added great amenities over the years and I would like to continue the course and direction of the city with the safety of our neighborhoods, protecting our home values and supporting our schools. Being on the council finance committee since being elected, we have made sure the budget has always been balanced with a reserve at the end of the year.

Davis: My desire to improve our city’s future by bringing an outsider’s experience, energy and perspective to Broadview Heights City Council is the primary reason I’m standing for election to represent Ward 2. The incumbent councilperson hasn’t faced a challenger in nearly a decade and it is time for a change.

Dunlap: I was blessed to serve our city as a firefighter/medic for 32 years helping people during their worst times and not so bad times. Some might call a first responder a person’s first and last line of defense. When I retired from the fire department, I understood my civic responsibility to our city wouldn’t end. What a great city – just look around and see what Mayor [Sam] Alai has done. Not all of us may like everything we see, but it’s amazing compared to most. So, with that said, I’m running to give back.

Goodwin: I would like to continue using my experience to keep Broadview Heights one of the Northern Ohio premier municipalities. Having mayoral, safety director, council-at-large and ward council experience gives me extensive knowledge of our city and insight on how we can improve/resolve residents’ concerns. Through cautious spending, along with an improving commercial tax base, we can provide good city services, amenities for our residents, and still have reasonable taxation rates. Tax dollars are precious and should be treated as such.

Mahnic: I am running for a seat on council to be able to continue the good work our council and administration have accomplished. Over the last 16 years, I have established a foundation of being a voice for residents and being responsive to the needs of our community. Throughout my tenure on council, I have truly enjoyed being able to bridge gaps between residents and the city and help find resolutions to the concerns of residents. Our city council and administration has worked hard to bring our community to where it is. I am grateful and appreciative for the opportunity to continue to serve our city.

Pavlica: It’s actually pretty simple. I enjoy what I do to help people with their problems and concerns. If I can do that, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I’ve served on council in Ward 1 since 2008 and have met many of the residents in my ward. I’ve always felt strongly about providing superior services to our residents, whether it’s police and fire protection, refuse collection, snow removal or recreation. Working with the NEORSD, my knowledge of the infrastructure of the city and dealing with the public has been beneficial. Since I am retired, I have more time to devote addressing resident concerns and responding in a timely manner, making me a full-time council representative. I am also able to attend city functions and meetings that take place during daytime hours and meet with residents. I’ve always felt that Broadview Heights is a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Wolf: My primary reason to run for re-election to Ward 2 is to continue to be a part of our growing community. There are a lot of great things going on in our city and I enjoy having a part in making that happen. I also want to continue to give back to the community while being on city council.

2. How should the city prioritize its spending over the next four years?

Boldt: Over the last four years, most of the road program dollars have been used on the main streets. In the next four years, we need to concentrate on the neighborhood roads. We also need to continue to solve stormwater issues.

Davis: Over the next four years, the city should prioritize spending by focusing on delivering

outstanding core city services to residents, strengthening citizen participation and advancing an excellent quality of life for everyone in the community. Aside from obvious investments in areas like public safety and repairing and improving infrastructure, it should also include: preserving green space and upgrading city parks; creating clean energy projects; funding city planner and economic development specialist positions; communicating with residents at greater depth and more frequency; and committing to realistic plans to make the city more bikeable and walkable.

Dunlap: If the mayor and his administration continue to use a proactive approach, we’ll be fine. As legislators, it’s our responsibility to be the checks and balances. It’s our responsibility to look at the facts so we can make educated decisions on legislative actions that affect all residents equally. No one dislikes taxes more than myself, I assure you of that. However, we must have them. Wants and needs are two completely different things, we’ll agree on that. It’s a balance. Funding one’s needs far outweighs one’s wants.

Goodwin: We need to continue storm water improvements. We will need additional police and fire personnel in the near future. We need a plan for reasonable improvement for safety forces and capital improvements. Instead of a new $12.6 million-plus fire station that is larger than 1.5 times the site of our new rec center, we need a reasonable expansion along with planning for the future. In both 2002 and 2022, our residents clearly communicated at the polls that luxurious buildings do not save lives, but additional manpower on our safety forces will save lives. We also need to address roadway expansion, such as Wallings Road, Broadview Road south safety concerns and continued side-street resurfacing. Additionally, the city will be investing in a commercial roadway near I-77 which will help our city by bringing in businesses that will expand our tax base.

Mahnic: As in every term, we work with city administration to plan spending for the city. We use data and projections to analyze and determine what the needs may be. Through fiscal responsibility, we have successfully funded projects that may come up unexpectedly. It is through proper planning and responsible spending that we have been able to continue to provide top-notch services to Broadview Heights. In the next four years, spending should be focused on maintenance, management and improvements to stormwater, roads, safety forces and other areas. We also hope to plan for improved programming for families, seniors and residents.

Pavlica: There are three priorities that I would like to see addressed, and they are, in no particular order: 1. Resolve flooding and stormwater management issues. 2. Continue our road resurfacing program, especially since many of our streets are aging and in need of repair. 3. Improve economic development in the city and continue the work we have begun toward development of our town center by finding a mix of retail, office and residential development, as well as green space, that will function as a focal point and gathering area for the entire community.

Wolf: There are several items I believe we should prioritize our spending on in the next four years. We finished replacing/resurfacing the main roads in Broadview Heights, I would like to see a priority on doing the same to the residential streets throughout the city. Each year our service director and engineer rate all the streets in the city, so we have a list to work from and tackle those streets that need it the most. I would also like to see a continuation of our stormwater management efforts. We are much better than we were 10 years ago and we need to increase focus in this area. We have a state-of-the-art recreation center, I would love to see us modernize our outdoor recreation area at The Fields: dedicated outdoor pickleball courts, add more pavilion space, and increase accessibility to the baseball diamonds.

3. If elected, what is one thing you hope to accomplish during your term?

Boldt: I hope to accomplish better development of the city in the next four years. This summer, while going door to door in my ward, I asked the residents what their biggest concerns were for the city. They overwhelmingly said the increase in traffic, which now requires traffic signalization. They also do not want townhouse developments. This reassured me of my stance on townhouses. These developments will cause overpopulation, more traffic issues, and put future stress on the city’s infrastructure, water issues, schools, fire and police. This is why I put Issues 25 and 26 on the ballot in November. Voting “Yes” will eliminate future townhouse developments in our neighborhoods. Last term, I put a moratorium on new developments to protect current residents. I worked with the administration and council by adding legislation to increase stormwater requirements, required natural buffers between developments and increased road standards.

Davis: We are a city blessed with low crime rates, stable housing stock, good roads, solid public schools and comfortable median household incomes. Broadview Heights is a great place to live and raise a family, but it requires eternal vigilance. If elected, one thing I hope to accomplish during my term is to challenge residents to reassess their own significance and raise their expectation levels by advocating for greater government transparency and increased communication. With the benefit of these assets, we can work collaboratively to make positive changes, and even carefully reexamine the law city council unanimously passed for esthetic reasons banning property owners from installing rooftop solar panels visible from the street.

Dunlap: Running unopposed, I want everything. I wish it was that simple. To achieve anything, one must surround themselves with smart individuals who are willing to look at the facts and be cohesive. This is why I respectfully ask you to please consider supporting the following individuals that share my philosophical ideas for an even better Broadview Heights. Retaining Council President Robert Boldt, Ward 4; Brian Wolf, Ward 2; Jennifer Mahnic, council-at-large; and electing Lyn Haselton, council-at-large, is a positive choice. Without a solid foundation, we the people have nothing.

Goodwin: I would like to continue to help the city solve more of our problems and make reasonable improvements without another tax increase. My goal is to push for the very best stewardship of our tax dollars while providing good city services.

Mahnic: My focus will be on expanding our communication with residents by video recording council meetings and, ideally, committee meetings. This will better inform residents and allow additional ways for residents to provide feedback on important topics. As our community continues to grow and our demographics begin to change, I want to plan for the expansion and improvement of our safety forces, including adding additional staffing and equipment. During this term I want to continue to develop our storm water and infrastructure management and maintenance systems. Having a new communication system in place will allow us to work more efficiently with our residents to accomplish these goals.

Pavlica: My main goal would be to find ways to resolve our flooding and stormwater management issues. Although we have completed many projects to deal with basement flooding by installing detention and retention basins throughout the city, we will continue our efforts in this area. We will continue to work with the NEORSD and the Cuyahoga County sanitary engineers to find ways to deal with our aging sanitary sewers in older parts of the city and ways to deal with stormwater management.

Wolf: There are two things I want to accomplish in this next four-year term. I want to bring additional accessible sports to our rec center portfolio. I also want to continue to increase the city’s inclusion with the schools. This year was the first year we had the high school homecoming parade in Broadview Heights which concluded with a bonfire at the high school. ∞