Jim in The Post November 9, 2011

Carbone, Maloney and Schonhut win council seats Longtime Councilman Ray Haseley ousted in Ward 2

 By TERRY BRLAS Strongsville Post editor

Updated:11/9/2011

There will be a new look to Strongsville City Council when it meets for the first time in 2012.

Voters decided races in wards 2, 3 and 4 on Nov. 8. J. Scott Maloney, who was appointed earlier this year, defeated Patricia Pell for the ward 4 seat by a 53-47 percent margin in the closest of the council races. Maloney earned 1,824 votes, while Pell gained the favor of 1,632 voters.

The largest margin of city came in ward 3 where Jim Carbone earned 2,428 votes to Larry Frawley's 1,799 votes for a 57-43 percent margin of victory.

The surprise of the night may have been newcomer Matthew Schonhut's win over l4-year councilman Ray Haseley. The youthful landscape company owner earned 2,240 votes to Haseley's 1,796 for a 55-45 percent margin of victory.

Maloney gave credit to Pell for a well-run race.

"My challenger has a solid background with a lot of credentials," he said. "She certainly gave me a run for my money and made me work very hard. It's actually great that the community has more than one truly qualified candidate. At the end of the day I am pleased that voters felt I was the best candidate to lead the community forward."

Carbone is looking to get back to time with his family that he lost campaigning. Then it's time to learn what the first time councilman needs to know as he prepares to serve the community as ward 3 councilman, a seat that is being vacated by longtime Councilman Mark Roth, who chose not to run for reelection.

"I'm a newbie here with big shoes to fill," he said. "I want to sit back and learn so I can make informed decisions. I'm my own person and I bring a different element. I'm excited for the city and I'm excited to move forward."

Schonhut and Haseley have a lot of mutual respect for one another. The incumbent was hoping for another four years and was counting on voters to lean on his experience.

"We never went negative," Haseley said. "We are faced with a big shortfall next year. We need experience on city council. This is not the time for on the job training. Evidently I didn't make that known like I should have."

Schonhut, on the other hand, brought a youthful enthusiasm to his campaign that apparently resonated with voters.

"We were the only race where there was never any negative campaigning against each other," he said. "Whenever I run into Ray we have a laugh and get along with each other. That's a good thing and I hope that relationship continues. I'm sure I'll be turning to him for advice because he's been doing this for a long time."