Caruso, Savage reappointed to city council leadership 

by Melissa Martin 

Jan. 7 city council meeting 

Brecksville City Council hosted its annual organizational meeting Jan. 7, as part of which President Dominic Caruso was sworn in to a second year as council’s leader. Councilperson Beth Savage was reappointed vice-president for the second year. 

In addition, council also approved several appointments to city board and commissions. Included in that list is Lawry Kardos, a citizen member to the city’s planning commission; Dennis Rose, appointed to a five-year term on the city’s board of zoning appeals; John Woelfl, appointed as a member to the city’s design and construction review board for a three-year term; Margaret DeWolf and Susan Putich-Kisling, as citizen members to the human services advisory board for 5-year terms; Brant Giere, Doug Hubert and Daniel Prendergast, appointed to the board of tax review; Scott McCreary, as a citizen member of the civil service commission for a six-year term; Beth Savage and A.J. Ganim, as council representatives to the volunteer firefighters’ dependents board for a one-year term; and Eric Schirch, as a citizen representative to the city’s records commission. 

During the meeting, council unanimously approved a new one-year lease agreement for jail space and ancillary services with the city of North Royalton. The city has maintained the agreement for the past several years, noting that it provides for the use of one bed in the jail facility per day for the entire year, Police Chief Stan Korinek said. 

“This year, the fee went up from $73,000 to $78,000 this year,” he added, noting the increase stems from higher wages paid to jail employees and the rising costs associated with housing visitors. “That amounts to about $214 per day.” 

Korinek said the city is also providing Brecksville police with a secondary lease for the year if additional bed space is needed in the facility to house more than one prisoner at a time. That second base will cost the city an additional $214 a day. 

“We’ve been pretty satisfied with them,” he said. “They’ve accepted our prisoners when we’ve needed it.” 

Korinek said the city typically houses at least one individual in the jail approximately 40-45% of the year, noting that this year, those numbers are up for 2025 already to nearly 50%. “We have a person in jail that’s been there since Dec. 20 and may still be there until Jan. 20 [possibly longer].” 

The lease will expire Dec. 31, Korinek said.