* After extensively interviewing the candidates and weighing their experience, agendas and personal qualities, however, the Erie Times-News Editorial Board endorses Schember as better suited in a number of ways.
* That recommendation is based on Schember’s record of relevant life and work experience, his more textured and grounded grasp of the city’s challenges and what it will take to work through them; and a temperament that will serve him well in developing the partnerships, collaboration and public engagement that will be indispensable to turning Erie’s arc upward.
* Schember, 66, comes to this race from a long banking career — including a major management role at PNC Bank at a time of sweeping industry restructuring and culture change — and a consequential six-year stint on Erie City Council, where he brought that experience to bear as a key player in pulling Erie back from the financial brink. He has an extensive record of community involvement and service as well.
Erie Times-News: Our view: Schember is best fit as next Erie mayor
It’s most welcome that Erie is getting the mayoral race it needs at this critical moment in its history.
There is a strong candidate in both parties, which hasn’t been the norm in recent decades. We hope that fact prompts higher-than-normal turnout with so much at stake.
The truth is that the candidates to succeed term-limited Mayor Joe Sinnott — Republican John Persinger and Democrat Joe Schember — agree on a lot of things. They include the need to restructure City Hall to better align it with the Erie Refocused comprehensive plan; the pivotal importance of seeking extensive public input as the plan moves forward; and the need to work proactively with businesses and entrepreneurs to create the conditions to sustain and create good jobs in the city.
We believe each candidate has the intellect, ideas and energy to become the transformational mayor Erie needs. After extensively interviewing the candidates and weighing their experience, agendas and personal qualities, however, the Erie Times-News Editorial Board endorses Schember as better suited in a number of ways.
That recommendation is based on Schember’s record of relevant life and work experience, his more textured and grounded grasp of the city’s challenges and what it will take to work through them; and a temperament that will serve him well in developing the partnerships, collaboration and public engagement that will be indispensable to turning Erie’s arc upward.
There was also a sense among Editorial Board members that Schember’s assessment of what will move the city forward is more in tune with important work already underway in various sectors of the community. We believe he’s better equipped to pull those threads together and take them to critical mass.
Schember, 66, comes to this race from a long banking career — including a major management role at PNC Bank at a time of sweeping industry restructuring and culture change — and a consequential six-year stint on Erie City Council, where he brought that experience to bear as a key player in pulling Erie back from the financial brink. He has an extensive record of community involvement and service as well.
Persinger, 36, a lawyer who moonlights as a writer of fiction, is the sort of younger, can-do potential public servant that Erie’s political culture could use a lot more of. Were it not for all that Schember brings to the table, we’d be comfortable endorsing him for mayor.
Persinger’s concern for Erie is palpable and his determination to do something about it is admirable. He clearly has done his homework to prepare himself for the race and the job.
Still, we believe Schember’s experience with managing change and his proven talent at building productive relationships would provide what Erie needs over the next four years. He’s the better of two good choices.
Read the endorsement here.