Lorain County Democrats to fill vacancy on Board of Elections

SHEFFIELD TWP. — Tom Smith has resigned from the Board of Elections. Board members noted they received his resignation early in the new year and plan to vote on a resolution at their next meeting recognizing him for his service. "He was chairman all the years I was director," Marilyn Jacobcik said. Jacobcik, a Republican, is the current board chair. "I can't express how he will be missed." Smith resigned from the Lorain County Community College Board of Trustees in early December, citing health issues. Tony Giardini, his fellow Democrat on the board, said Smith is "on the mend" — welcome news to the other board members — and hopes to have meetings for his replacement soon. In his resignation letter to the Lorain County Commissioners dated Dec. 26, Smith noted it has been his privilege "to serve the (Democratic) party for so many years." "It is now time to give my attention to family," he wrote. "Linda and I plan to see as much of our daughters, their husbands and our grandchildren as possible." His resignation was effective Jan. 2. Smith's seat will be filled by the county's Democratic Executive Committee. Also at Tuesday's Board of Elections meeting, members voted to allocate leftover grant funding to cover an annual service fee for the additional absentee ballot equipment and additional cleaning necessitated by the pandemic. The Lorain County Board of Elections received a $435,000 grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to help the 2020 general election run as smoothly as possible. The bulk of that funding went to staffing, according to previous reporting, but about $20,000 of what was originally budgeted for overtime was left over, BOE Director Paul Adams said. The board will have until the end of June to allocate the remaining roughly $11,000. The money cannot be used on items already part of the board's regular budget, Adams said. This story has been corrected to show the Democratic Executive Committee, not Central Committee, will replace Smith. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.