GOP voters should back Schlechter for commissioner

Lorain County Commissioner Jeff Riddell was remarkably candid about one of his biggest political vulnerabilities during an endorsement interview. "I thought by now I would have earned the right to be trusted, and I'm not," Riddell, a Republican seeking a second four-year term, told us. That admission clearly bothered the 74-year-old Riddell, who said he did his homework, worked hard and tried to do what he believed he was elected to do. Riddell didn't appear to know how to regain the public's trust, but his opponent in the Republican primary, farmer and Firelands school board member Will Schlechter, recognized the core problem. The commissioners, he told us in a separate endorsement interview, weren't transparent. The greatest example of that, Schlechter said, was the commissioners' handling of a proposed "mega site" at and around the Lorain County Regional Airport in New Russia Township and a proposed sewer project on the county's west side. Riddell disputed that characterization, pointing to the county's strategic plan as proof. That approach doesn't appear to have allayed public suspicions that the commissioners know more than they're saying. The fact remains that both projects, especially the mega site, have drawn significant opposition in the rural parts of the county, which is where Republicans draw much of their political support. Opponents have raised concerns about the mega site's potential impact on the environment and their rural way of life. If township residents don't trust that the commissioners about the mega site and sewers, it places Riddell's reelection hopes in a precarious position. Whoever wins the Democratic primary between Brian Baker and Carolyn White is sure to exploit that in the fall. Schlechter, a 49-year-old farmer and Firelands school board member, doesn't have the same weakness because he has made pushing back against the mega site and the sewers the centerpiece of his campaign. Although Schlechter, who won election to the school board last year, has limited public-sector experience, we believe he has the better chance of holding the seat for Republicans in the fall. Riddell, who, like Schlechter, lives in Henrietta Township, had never held political office before he challenged then-Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, four years ago. (Riddell ran a successful building supply business.) Part of Riddell's problem appears to be that he misread what he was elected to do in 2022, when he beat Lundy by 136 votes. At the time, the commissioners were mired in controversy and infighting in large part because of a rift between Commissioner Dave Moore and then-Commissioner Michelle Hung, both Republicans. In 2021, after learning that Hung was having an affair with then-county 911 Director Harry Williamson, Lundy and Moore teamed up to fire him. A short time later, Lundy and Hung joined forces to fire then-county Administrator Tom Williams, a Moore ally. As we noted in 2022, although Lundy was a stabilizing influence during that chaotic time, he was the only commissioner on the ballot that year. That made him vulnerable to voters weary of the commissioners' bickering. Riddell, we believe, was elected to restore calm to county government. Unfortunately, the dysfunction continued. That's in part because Riddell seemed to see his victory as a continuation of the county's rightward shift over the past decade, which the Republican commissioners have taken as a license to do as they please. Moore and Riddell swiftly aligned against Hung. She was ousted by voters in 2024, an election Moore survived. Almost immediately after Riddell took office, he and Moore rescinded a contract for public-safety radios that Hung and Lundy had only just approved. The move drew a lawsuit, along with widespread condemnation from police officers and firefighters. In 2024, Riddell and county Administrator Jeff Armbruster were accused of bullying then-county Human Resources Director J.R. White, who received a separation agreement worth $130,000. Last year, Riddell asked the commissioners' former lawyer for advice on how to keep county employees' salary information "buried" from public view. This despite the commissioners' promises to be transparent. Then there are the commissioners' feuds with other officials, including the county's Domestic Relations judges, county Auditor Craig Snodgrass, a Democrat, and county Sheriff Jack Hall, a Republican. Riddell has often aggressively taken point for the commissioners in those disagreements, some of which have ended up in court. Schlechter argued persuasively that without a course correction, the lack of transparency and trust will continue to stymie progress in the county. For example, he recognized the county might need to ask voters for a tax increase to help pay for a new county jail or to prevent future budget cuts. (Cuts the commissioners made this year likely would have been avoided had county voters not overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 0.25 percent sales-tax increase last year.) "Before you ask for anything, you've got to get transparency," Schlechter said. "Until you get the trust back from the people, I think we're just wasting our time." Ultimately, we believe Schlechter is the better Republican candidate to restore trust and transparency to county government.