CUYAHOGA FALLS: Newly appointed Falls Ward 5 councilman Paul Colavecchio attended his first council meeting Monday.
The first order of business by council president Don Walters was to assign Colavecchio to council committees and boards.
Walters tapped Colavecchio to serve as chairman of Council's Community Development Committee and as a member of the Public Affairs Committee.
Colavecchio also will serve on the administration's traffic committee and tree board.
Walters did not change the chairmanship of the finance committee, which approves the city's appropriations.
When Diana Colavecchio left in January, the 10 remaining members split 5-to-5 along party lines. Committee assignments generally favor the majority party, which until that time was Democratic.
In a compromise move, Walters appointed Rpublican Carol Klinger to chair the finance committee. That was expected to change once a new Democratic Ward Five council representative was appointed.
Walters said Monday that it made sense to keep Klinger, a certified public accountant, as chairman of finance. She is the most qualified, he said.
"We don't have to have everything split (along party lines)," he said. "We have the budget in December and a lot of preparation for that, and we still have some things with State Road. She's very qualified to dig deep into the city's finances."
