CUYAHOGA FALLS: Cuyahoga Falls Ward 5 precinct committee members will meet Wednesday to choose a new city council representative.
The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Nervous Dog Cafe in Stow.
Diana Colavecchio resigned the seat in January when she was chosen to replace Lisa Zeno Carano as Stow Municipal Court Clerk.
Carano resigned the office to take a job with newly elected Summit County Probate Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer.
Colavecchio's resignation ended the Democrats' majority rule on Council, making the body evenly split down party lines, if only for a month or two. The timing was significant because newly elected council president, Democrat Don Walters, had to assign members to council committees in January. Chairmanship of the committees usually is given to members of the majority party.
Fearing a tie scenario when council put his leadership picks to a vote, Walters agreed to a compromise, which included putting Republican Carol Klinger in charge of the finance committee.
Once the new Ward 5 representative is sworn and seated, Klinger, a certified public accountant, is likely to lose the chairmanship, but remain as a member of the committee, Walters said.
That could happen as soon as Feb. 11.
Megan C. J. Moreland, executive director of the Summit County Democratic Party, said the five precinct committee members could nominate candidates for the open seat during Wednesday's meeting.
The only person who has expressed interest in the position is Paul Colavecchio, husband of the former Ward 5council woman, Moreland said.
Paul Colavecchio is a lawyer whose Cuyahoga Falls practice specializes in probate matters such as estates, wills, and guardianships. He ran unsuccessfully for state representative and Summit County Council.
Whoever is chosen to fill Diana Colavecchio's seat will serve the remainder of her term, which ends in January 2014. To keep the seat, the appointed council member will have to run for election in the fall.
