County Executive Questions: Jack Schron
Jack Schron, candidate for Cuyahoga County Executive.
Name: Jack Schron, Jr
Age: 66
Family status: Married
Education: BS in Business, Florida Southern College; JD Ohio Northern University
Current jobs held: President Jergens, Inc.; Cuyahoga County Council 6th District
Elected offices held: Chagrin Falls Board of Education 12 years; Cuyahoga County Council elected twice
2. If you were grading Cuyahoga County's first time out of the box County Executive and Council, what grade would you give the current Administration and Council? What have they done well and what do they need to improve upon?
I am honored to have served on the County Council for the first four years of the new county government. Rather than getting involved in petty partisan politics the Council focused on good government and working together. Though there is always room to improve, if using a letter grade I would give the council a "B". All of us came into a brand new government following 200 years under county commissioners and the corruption that brought. We reset the moral compass, passed legislation dealing with economic development/job creation, created the office of inspector general and served as watchdog of the public funds. In the area of economic development, I am proud to be the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee for the Council. We completed the convention center on time and under budget, helped support public projects throughout the county and repositioned the county offices for a long future.
The County Executive led the operations of new county government and brought forth many programs. What is still remaining is to finish the reform of our fledgling government and to grow more jobs. Though he has played an important transitional role, our current executive is leaving before the task is completed. We need to improve delivery of county services and to implement technology to enhance that delivery. One key way to improve our county government will be to listen to the thoughts and ideas of our 7,000 employees. They are the ones who daily come in contact with the single mother, the aging adult and those who have special needs. They can help us improve how we deliver support through our fiscal office to provide better support to both our commercial and noncommercial customers.
3. Explain how, given your background and experience, you plan to address the areas that you noted above as those that could be improved upon? Please be as specific as you can.
My background of 30 years in running a business, Jergens, Inc. as the executive, as a (now retired) colonel in the US Army and my four years on County Council have given me the leadership background and experience to address the problems listed above. Job creation and county service improvement in a Jack Schron administration will be attacked by creating a business growth task force and an operations improvement task force. We will call upon those working in the county to help identify how we can better support our county customers. We will tap into the vast base of those working in the county and those who access the county to help identify and improve our support.
The second task force will be formed as a coalition with business leaders, labor and private sector organizations to identify job-growth opportunities. My jobs plan calls for targeted focus in manufacturing, medical and more which I call my 3M’s. We are world-famous in these areas and we need to reach out to every potential business to tell them the county’s story. We have built real economic development tools for our $100M county program and I will aggressively use them to achieve job growth in the coming months.
4. If you are elected, how will the average citizen of Cuyahoga County, be able to tell that things are improving because of your work?
The average citizen will see me actively participating in the county. I'll be approachable and ready to help. They'll see a high level of commitment to bringing in and growing jobs. I have a history of supporting schools through my time, talent, dollars and campaign. Having a job is the essential component of support for the individual, the personal self-worth, the rebuilding of our families and the strengthening of our communities. A citizen will see things improving because more people will be working and our neighborhoods will be rebuilt.
5. What other key issues, programs, policies, etc., not already discussed, do you plan to take on if you are elected to the job of County Executive?
We will take on the computerization of the old county systems. We currently use multiple older computer systems, making it difficult to communicate and to do business across departments. During a Schron administration, we will consolidate systems and increase efficiency. We will review existing programs during business improvement, reduce those not working and build where needed. We will take our message of job growth out-- with an outreach method rather than one of a responding message. It will not be my goal to launch new programs but to improve those that are not performing and eliminate those not able to improve.