CLEVELAND, Ohio – Four Westlake residents have filed protests with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, saying law director candidate Andrea Rocco does not meet city charter requirements for the office.
The charter requires the law director be an attorney “engaged in the active practice of law in Ohio for a period of six years next preceding his election.”
Those filing protests say Rocco’s tenure as Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts in 2013 and 2014 disqualified her from running for office because she was not practicing law at that time.
Rocco, who is running against Michael Maloney in the Nov. 7 election, said she is prepared to respond to the protests at a board of elections meeting Friday.
“Westlake community members are better served by having choice,” she said Wednesday.
Rocco has been practicing law since she left the county. Maloney is an attorney who serves as an assistant law director in Parma.
The board will also hold hearings on protests in two other races.
Ward 1 candidate Brendan Delay has filed protests against his two challengers in the May 2 primary – council member Lynda Appel and Duane Van Dyke.
Delay contends the candidate petitions of his opponents contain errors that results in not enough valid signatures for the candidates.
A similar protest was filed by Donald Kowalsky against Ward 4 councilman Michael O’Donnell, who is unopposed in November.
This story has been corrected to show that Brendan Delay filed protests in Ward 1, not Duane Van Dyke.
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