Write-in Candidate Files in Summit County Council, Seat 'D' Campaign

There are now three individuals vying for Summit County Council, Seat 'D'. They are Chris Robinson, the incumbent and Democrat, myself, Gary Shumway, Constitution Party, and now a write-in candidate, Mr. Tyler Rowser. Write-in candidates have no specified party though it appears Tyler filed earlier on the Democrat ticket for Treasurer.

Being a write-in candidate is tough and Tyler got a bit of a late start, so I will continue to focus on Chris as my primary competition, though Tyler is also a legitimate candidate.

From the Park Record by Patrick Parkinson dated 10/15/2010 entitled, "Write-in candidate files in Summit County Council campaign":

A Coalville man has filed as a write-in candidate in the campaign for one of the seats on the Summit County Council.

Tyler Rowser said he filed as a candidate so he could "be there for the citizens."

"Sometimes I feel that our County Council is not there for the citizens. They are there for political gain," Rowser said in a telephone interview.

Rowser said he is not affiliated with a political party. He is running against incumbent County Councilman Chris Robinson, a Democrat, and Gary Shumway, a member of the Constitution Party.

"I feel that I have just as much a chance as any other candidate out there to win," Rowser said. "It all depends on the voters If you don't expect to win how are you ever going to do anything?"

Rowser filed as a Democratic candidate for Summit County treasurer earlier this year, but dropped out of the contest last spring.

Maintaining a balanced budget at the County Courthouse is among his top priorities, Rowser said.

He criticized members of the County Council for allowing the general fund, which pays for the day-to-day operations of the government, to rack up a $1.6 million deficit this year.

"That's a huge concern to me," Rowser said. "This is an issue that we really need to look into and have people with the ability to understand what is going on and be able to research things and find out what is best for the county."

If elected, Rowser said he would work to avoid laying off rank-and-file workers in the County Courthouse if budgets stay tight.

"Cutting employees I have a hard time with because we always seem to want to cut the middle of the trunk when we should be trimming back at the top of the tree," Rowser said. "We could take the higher paid employees and maybe cut them back."

He said he would advocate cutting the salary for members of the County Council. Councilors currently earn about $29,000 per year.

Rowser said he would support reducing the pay to about $10,000 per year.

"We have shrinking budgets," he said. "I think that's kind of been a hard pill for people to swallow in the county government -- that we do have to cut back."

Meanwhile, officials could also save money by streamlining processes in the County Courthouse, Rowser said.

He said he would look at making the process for obtaining a business license more convenient for citizens.

But voting for him Nov. 2 will not be as easy as just checking a box, Rowser said.

Voters must type in the names of write-in candidates because their name will not appear on the ballot, he explained.