Associate Melissa Yasinow announces her candidacy for Cleveland Heights City Council. The top four vote-getters out of the candidate pool will be awarded seats. Click here to read more.
“CLEVELAND HEIGHTS — Melissa Yasinow, a 28-year-old attorney with Cleveland firm Kohrman Jackson & Krantz, officially announced July 15 her candidacy in the November City Council election.
Yasinow enters a field that includes incumbents Mayor Ed Kelley, Jason Stein and Cheryl Stephens. As all council members serve as at-large representatives, the top four vote-getters out of the candidate pool – comprised of all incumbents and challengers – will be awarded seats.
Janine Boyd – who was appointed in October to replace Phyllis Evans – must now be elected in a separate November race in which she can be directly challenged. Twenty-year councilwoman Bonnie Caplan announced last month she wouldn’t be seeking reelection.
A Highland Heights native, Yasinow is a graduate of Laurel School in Shaker Heights and Mount Holyoke College. She has lived in Cleveland Heights for the past five years, graduating from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2011.
This is Yasinow’s first run for public office, which she said is motivated out of a desire to maintain Cleveland Heights as an attractive community for young professionals and families.
“…We need to work together to address the foreclosure crisis and to preserve property values,” she said. “I also believe that we need to work with local businesses and the special improvement districts to encourage business investment in Cleveland Heights.”
Yasinow also said she looks to bring “transparency and better communication” to council.
Contact Byrne at 216-986-5867 and @BByrneSunNews on Twitter.”