Brusky, 28, loses bid for county commissioner's seat

by JOHN LASKO

News-Times reporter

Twenty-eight-year old Amherst councilman and anti-sales tax champion Nick Brusky was unable to sweep Lorain carpet salesman Ted Kalo out of his seat as Lorain County commissioner last week.

Brusky lost to Kalo in the Nov. 4 general election by a vote of 71,029 to 47,796. Brusky said he was somewhat surprised at the outcome, considering what he had heard when he announced his candidacy in January.

"My constituents expressed a greater dissatisfaction with Kalo's performance," Brusky said.

In the end, Kalo defeated the six-term Amherst councilman-at-large by 19,830 votes.

"I'm very happy," Kalo said. "I think we've had a good first four years and I'm looking forward to continuing what we've started in 2005 with the Lorain County Growth Partnership and working on job development in Lorain County."

According to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections, Brusky fared well in several cities and won in Amherst by 247 votes, in Avon by 717 votes, and in Avon Lake by 984 votes.

"I went all out, I did everything I possibly could with the resources I had, but there really wasn't that much I could have done," Brusky said.

Kalo won in Elyria by 5,987 votes, in Lorain by 11,115 votes, in North Ridgeville by 1,120 votes, in Oberlin by 2,929 votes, in Sheffield Lake by 1,299, in Vermilion by 439 votes and in the villages and townships throughout the county by 2,292 votes.

"The city of Oberlin really hurt me, I just got trounced there," Brusky said. "I kind of have a problem with the college students being allowed to vote in Lorain County because if they are from out of state or out of county, they should be voting absentee in their own states and counties."

He added the tables could have turned in his favor if voters had listened to the issues at the county level, instead of getting so wrapped up in presidential politics, which Brusky believes caused voters to vote along party lines in local races as well.

"I'm disappointed because not all Republicans and Democrats are created the same because we have particular issues that are different then national issues," Brusky said. "At the local level, our economy in this area has been in a slump, at times when the economy and the rest of the country was doing well. So we need change in this county more than any place in the country."

Brusky would like to see Lorain County establish a charter so the county can hold non-partisan elections in the future.

One reason Brusky ran against Kalo was because Kalo led a charge to increase the county sales tax by 0.25 percent. The commissioners approved the tax increase on March 1, 2007, without a vote by residents. Brusky said economists have proven on both local and national levels that lower taxes encourage more business growth and development in a particular area.

"More business growth in the county will bring in more revenue," he said.

Additionally, he said, the voluntary early retirement buyouts for workers at Nordson in Amherst and elimination of nearly 250 union workers at the Avon Lake Ford plant are not helping the local economy either.

"The economy was a major issue in our area, and we had different ways how we were going to fix it," Brusky said. "His ideas were the same ideas Democrats in this county have done for 50 years. The economic development Ted Kalo was pushing was 'let me be the middle man, let me be the mediator.' I don't think that should happen."

While both Brusky and Kalo agree the local economy is in dire straits, Kalo said the direction he and fellow commissioners Lori Kokoski and Betty Blair have taken have proven beneficial for the county.

"Nationally, the Republicans have put us in this position, and it showed on election day," Kalo said. "They saw what I had done as a county commissioner over the last four years, and I think they were confident if we had a Democratic president, we'll now have the ability to get more funds to Lorain County with Democrat county commissioners."

Otherwise, Kalo saw Brusky as a worthy opponent who ran a strong "issues only" campaign.

"Mr. Brusky did a great job running his first countywide campaign. I think it can be quite daunting at first, but I commend him for taking the opportunity and I thank the voters of Lorain County for giving me the chance for a second term," he said.

In two years, Blair will be up for re-election. And while Brusky has not decided on whether he will try again, the thought has entered his mind.

"Right now I'm taking it easy," Brusky said. "When the time comes to making a decision, I will let the public know exactly what that decision is."