On May 1, just after midnight, the new Mayor of North Royalton was sworn in. Paul Marnecheck, previous Council President, was sworn in at the gazebo on the city green. The swearing in was performed by the Honorable Francine Goldberg, Judge, Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court. About fifty people were in attendance.
Paul Marnecheck replaces Larry Antoskiewicz, who retired effective April 30.  Antoskiewicz, a 25 year resident, began his political involvement in North Royalton starting in 2005, when he was appointed Ward 5 Councilman.  He then served as Council President, before becoming Mayor in 2020.  His retirement came in the midst of his second term.
Marnecheck, who has been a North Royalton resident for about eighteen years, served North Royalton as the Ward 4 City Councilman from December 2009 to December 2019.  He then was elected to North Royalton Council President, with his term starting in January 2020 and was re-elected in 2023.
Marnecheck left his position as Brookpark Economic Development Commissioner, where he worked since 2022,  to take on the role of North Royalton’s Mayor. He had worked for the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) and the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE).  He held the position of GCP Director of Business Development from July, 2018 to November, 2021; The GCP Membership Development Manager from January, 2016 to July, 2018; the COSE Membership Advisor from January to December, 2015 and the COSE Manager of Small Business Solutions from May, 2013 to January, 2015.  He holds a MA in Public Policy and BA in Political Science from Kent State University.
When asked if he had any pet projects in mind, Marnecheck responded that his first orders of business in the transition is to see what items are already in the pipeline, to ensure that they are completed in an organized manner.  He will also have several positions to fill soon, specifically in the Service, Finance and Law Departments.
What a week it has been! I of course want to thank everyone who has sent me a kind word, sent me a note, or left a message for me. I do appreciate it. I want to express my appreciation for the North Royalton City employees who have made this transition as soon as possible. Jamie Anton, and Tammy Cummins in my office have been great in helping me settle in. I know they have pitched in and fielded phone calls and emails for me while I was addressing other matters. Thank you to everyone who has been patient with me. Please know that if you sent me an email or a voicemail, I will respond as soon as I can.
And of course, thank you to our great public servant, Council Clerk Helen Dunlap for her assistance.
“It has been a busy week. As my time begins as Mayor, a few public servants are closing out their time with North Royalton. First, Nick Cinquepalmi, our long serving Service Director, has retired. As you heard, our long-time law director Tom Kelly has also informed me that he is retiring soon as well. These two retirements, coupled with the retirement of Donna Vozar, mean a huge amount of institutional knowledge will soon be departing. These three individuals have been very helpful to me during my time serving as a member of North Royalton City Government. I will miss all 3 immensely.
I am currently working on evaluating the three positions and seeing if there are some tweaks or modifications. I do want to announce one decision I have made. I have decided to reinstitute the position of Safety Director. I have reflected on my skill set and past experience and I realize that this is something I need in order to be effective as the Mayor of North Royalton. Each Mayor brings a different set of life experiences and skills to the role. For me, this is what I need. I plan to have legislation on the May 19th Council Agenda.
Also, for the May 19th Council Agenda, I plan to have a piece of legislation declaring a “resolution of necessity” regarding a possible EMS Levy. I have also requested that this be a topic for the next Safety Committee Meeting. This resolution, according to my understanding, is the first step in receiving correct financial information regarding a possible levy.
You may have also noticed some landscaping happening at this building as well as a few other locations around town. Leonti is doing some great work and I look forward to the community seeing the result. My directive to them has been clean lines, organized and low maintenance. I do want to say that Connie Mayer from the Historical Society did some research and none of the trees, plants, etc. are historical. I wanted to make sure we were not removing a living tribute tree or anything of historical significance to the community.”

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer