Armond Budish discusses his agenda for Cuyahoga County: 9 observations

Armond Budish wins Cuyahoga County Executive Race

Armond Budish thanks his many supporters after winning the Cuyahoga County Executive race, in the Lakeside Meeting Room at the DoubleTree Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio on Nov. 4, 2014.

(Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Armond Budish is taking his time as he plots out his plans for the Cuyahoga County government.

The county executive-elect, who takes office on Jan. 1, requested a Tuesday meeting with Northeast Ohio Media Group to offer a glimpse of his agenda, and to open lines of communications.

Here are nine observations from the hour-long interview.

1. Avoids specifics

Budish fielded questions on a wide range of topics, but as was the case during his successful campaign for county executive, he offered little in the way of specifics.

For example, when asked to identify five top priorities, he said doing so would be premature.

He also would not commit to maintaining staffing cuts by outgoing Executive Ed FitzGerald that targeted the county's patronage-bloated payroll. "I'm not going to say yes or no to that," Budish said. "But [hiring] won't be patronage-driven, I can assure you of that."

2. Denies being insider

Fairly or not, some people view Budish, a 61-year-old former minority leader and speaker of the Ohio House, as a Democratic insider and his victory a setback to the county's post-reform momentum.

When asked about that portrayal, Budish, who ran for his first elected office at the age of 53, gave an interesting answer.

"I've never been viewed by the insiders as an insider," he said, chuckling. "It's funny that's been mentioned, because I wasn't even in politics until eight years ago."

3. Addresses big-ticket projects

Budish said he's not sure how he'll address competing needs for overhauls of the MetroHealth campus and the county's Justice Center, which houses the county's Common Pleas Court, county jail, county Prosecutor's Office and Cleveland police department, among other agencies. The two projects likely will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Something needs to be done in both of those cases," Budish said. "We're talking about a lot of money. And I don't know where that money is coming from yet. We have a balanced budget, and that's a good thing. But I don't know that we have a whole lot more capacity for new building projects given the current economics of the county budget."

4. Zings 'win tax'

Oh win tax. We barely knew thee.

For those who don't remember, FitzGerald floated the idea of tying funding for public stadium improvements to on-the-field performance of the teams who play in the facilities. He called his much-hurrahed proposal the 'win tax,' a play on the county's "sin tax" on alcohol and cigarettes that pays for stadium upkeep.

Budish wouldn't bite when asked how he might divide the sin tax revenues, other than to indicate he's talked with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson about the subject.

But pressed on whether on-the-field performance might be a factor, Budish said, with a coy smile: "I don't think that's gotten a lot of traction."

5. Reconnects with county employees

Budish has been careful to not bash FitzGerald, who spent the second half of his four-year term running for governor, while articulating possible areas of improvement for the county.

That said, on Tuesday he said county employees have welcomed meetings he scheduled with them, but expressed skepticism whether he'll still be interested six months from now.

"I guess they haven't seen administration officials much," Budish said, appearing to catch himself as the words came out of his mouth. "Of course, people get busy."

6. Reaches out to Republicans

Budish has been on a whirlwind listening tour, talking to community and political leaders of all stripes. Among his first post-election meetings was with Republican County Councilman Jack Schron, whom Budish defeated in the Nov. 4 election.

"Great meeting," Budish said.

Budish said he's also reached out to Republican Gov. John Kasich, whose support he may eventually need. Although his role as a state representative involved frequently lobbing partisan criticisms against Republican legislation, Budish said he doesn't think his new job will require much of a change.

"I don't think there's going to be any difficulty in taking a different tack here and working together, which we ultimately did when I was a speaker. We did come together on key pieces of legislation," he said.

Budish went on to describe some Republican lawmakers as friends, but agreed, jokingly, that some of them might not publicly acknowledge as much.

7.  Leaves his TV show

Budish said he'll be walking away from his law practice, as well as his long-standing role as the host of Golden Opportunities, his weekly infomercial that focuses on issues facing senior citizens. (Budish did take a hiatus from the show during his campaign.)

That means Budish will no longer have business ties to the MetroHealth System, a county-subsidized healthcare chain that was an advertiser on the TV show.

"That's an ongoing process. Tonight I have to go pack boxes," he said.

He said he hopes the show will continue in his absence.

8. Resists "peanut butter" approach

Budish said he would resist giving the county's 59 cities and villages a share of money for demolition of blighted structures, or what he described as a "peanut butter approach."

When spending money, he said he prefers targeting areas that are most in need.

"There's always that, no matter what group you're in, there's a drive for spreading things like peanut butter," he said. "One of my jobs [as county executive] will be to try to avoid that."

9.  Hints at priorities

Budish may have been vague about his possible policy initiatives, but he did talk about his policy interests.

Budish said wants to promote Lake Erie as an economic asset, while prevent the water contamination that left Toledo temporarily without drinking water last summer.

He also he hopes to tackle infant mortality by encouraging all eligible residents to enroll in Medicaid, the government-subsidized healthcare program for the poor.

Finally, he said he'd like to see the county's economic development efforts more aligned with social services and education.

"If someone comes in for Medicaid, we need to talk about offering them training so they can get off government help so they can be sustainable on their own. I think that's what people want, and the county needs to support that," he said.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.