RICHLAND COUNTY — Voters will have a choice Nov. 3 in the race for Richland County commissioner between returning a Republican incumbent to office or electing the first Democrat to the position in a decade.
That choice will be between a pair of Mansfield residents — incumbent Cliff Mears, 73, and Democratic challenger Mark Kaufmann, 71 — for a position that pays around $81,000 annually.
Mears, who defeated challenged David Morgenstern in the May primary, was appointed to the county Board of Commissioners in 2021 to complete an unexpired term and ran a successful campaign to be retained in 2022. Mears, unopposed in the general election four years ago, is a former member of Mansfield City Council.
Kaufmann, who has not held elected office previously, was unopposed in the Democratic Party primary in May, seeking election to a four-year term in office.
What is the role of a county commissioner in Ohio?
Commissioners make up the general administrative body for county government. They can perform those duties specifically authorized by state lawmakers and no more.
They are the county government taxing, budgeting, appropriating, and purchasing authority. They hold title to county property. Individual commissioners have no power to act independently. All formal and official actions must be taken by the board of county commissioners acting as a body by majority or unanimous vote.
Commissioners also have a myriad of other responsibilities, including hearing and ruling on annexations; approving drainage improvements through the petition ditch process; establishing water and sewer districts and making improvements; and providing for solid waste disposal.
Commissioners also appoint department heads of offices for which they have responsibility and also appoint members to a variety of boards and commissions.
Commissioners must work with other elected officials and judges in the county to assure they are properly funded to perform their statutory duties.
Here is a look at the two candidates, profiling in alphabetical order:
Mark Kaufmann
The retired Kaufmann said he was self-employed, operating a small food distribution company.
He said he served from 2002 to 2011 as a member of the Michigan Employment Security Board of Review, representing the interest of employees in unemployment insurance matters, hearing appeals from administrative courts and advising the government on unemployment insurance questions.
Kaufmann said he worked from 1991 to 2002 as a representative of the United Auto Workers International Union, helping to litigate employment and trade-related issues. He moved to Richland County in 2021.
“I have witnessed our current Board of Commissioners make repeated decisions that are contrary to the general public interest,” Kaufmann said. “I hope to bring some accountability to a Commission which seems to be driven by short-term political expediency, rather than the long-term general welfare.
“I will listen to all segments of our community, not just the politically well connected. I intend to take the long view and act as much as possible in the interest of our children and grandchildren’s future.
“This means I will do all I can to protect our public school funding. I will work to expand the use of renewable sustainable energy. I will be a good steward of the county’s revenue and scrupulously follow the law and open bidding requirements for all expenditures,” Kaufmann said.
According to a social media post, Kaufmann said he worked in restaurants, print shops, warehouses, and building maintenance.
“He also experienced extended periods of unemployment. These early experiences shaped his understanding of the challenges faced by working families and fueled his lifelong support for unions and workers’ rights,” he said on Facebook.
If elected, Kaufmann said he would seek to rescind a local property tax relief measure approved by commissioners in 2025; require open bids for any expenses in excess of $88,700; and seek to rescind the ban on commercial-size wind/solar projects.
He said Richland County was one of the few counties in the state to double the current state-funded 2.5 percent owner-occupancy credits, effective Jan. 1, providing $1.7 million in countywide tax relief at the expense of local schools.
Kaufmann called it “bogus tax relief.”
“This ill-thought-out move has cost our local schools and resulted in well over 100 of our Richland County residents being made unemployed. The separation costs of these workers were direct cost to the school districts. Several of our local school districts have had to implement ‘pay to play’ programs for sports, bands and other school-related activity,” Kaufmann said.
He said the county commissioners’ decision to prohibit large wind/solar projects in 11 of 18 townships in the city should be repealed. Voters approved the decision by a narrow margin in the May primary.
“As energy prices soar (as a result of the illegal Iran war), the short sightedness of this ban will only become more and more a detriment to the future of our county,” Kaufmann said.
He said his election to office would bring “accountability and transparency” to the commission.
“By defending public education, promoting green energy projects and enforcing open bidding requirements, I believe we will make Richland County once again a thriving economic hub for north central Ohio, a place where businesses will want to locate because they see we are a forward looking 21st century community,” Kaufmann said.
Cliff Mears
Mears, a University of Toledo graduate, said he has lived in Richland County most of his life and has held elected office in the city of Mansfield and/or Richland County since 2012.
During his private career, Mears worked in a variety of capacities, many of them involving finance and data, for R.R. Donnelley & Sons in Willard, Ideal-Southeast Technologies/General Motors in Mansfield and Skybox Packaging, LLC, in Mansfield.
He taught at the University of Toledo and North Central State College as adjunct faculty. Mears said he managed a plasmapheresis operation in Toledo for Revlon Health Care, regulated by the FDA.
“I was recruited out of MBA School to come to work in the industrial relations department of the former Westinghouse Corp. in Mansfield,” he said, before accepting the position with R.R. Donnelley & Sons.
“I retired there after 26 years of service. At the time, the Willard site was largest print facility in North America,” Mears said.
During his time in office, he pointed to “tremendous progress” the county has made in recent years, including the best credit rating in county history; a balanced budget each year; “reasonable and measured property tax relief for homeowners;” flood mitigation efforts, particularly in the Shelby areas; “significant updates and building infrastructure without borrowing a penny;” new software for the building department to enhance building investment; multiple investments in the sheriff’s office, including the VirTra training system to protect officers and the public; and millions of dollars in infrastructure to accommodate expected growth in the I-71/Ohio 97 corridor.
“I want to continue the progress we’ve made in improving the lives of Richland County residents,” Mears said.
He said economic growth; lower taxes/limited government; and protecting the county’s “outstanding credit rating” are key issues.
“I will continue to support strategic investments in county infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and sewers. I also support the county’s partnership with Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development as we actively recruit successful businesses and industry to the area,” Mears said.
“I will continue to support doubling the owner-occupied property tax credit for all Richland County homeowners. I also continually look for ways to streamline the bureaucratic processes I see all too often in government,” he said.
Mears said “disciplined budgetary practices” will protect the county credit rating.
“My philosophy is simple: live within your means. Always balance the budget. And consider taxpayers who are behind every public expenditure,” he said.
In terms of the wind/solar decision, Mears said commissioners sought input from the county’s townships and implemented the ban in the townships where trustees requested it. He said county voters approved the ban despite “over $435,000 in special interest money from San Francisco, Dallas and New York” coming in to seek repeal of the ban.
“My opponent doesn’t seem to recognize that this issue was settled by the voters in favor of the board of commissioners’ decision, putting my opponent at odds with Richland County voters,” Mears said.
Mears, who also served on the board of trustees at the Mansfield Playhouse for more than 30 years, said he is proud of his local roots.
“Cheryl and I moved here six months after we were married and we recently celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary. We bought our first house here. We raised our kids here. We have been invested in this community for decades.”
