by Andree Niswander
Reporter
In his fourth race for Summit County's top engineer position, Democrat Alan Brubaker finally won the title Nov. 4, unseating Republican incumbent Greg Bachman.
Final but unofficial election results from the Summit County Board of Elections with 100 percent of precincts reporting has Brubaker, 60, winning with 55.28 percent of the votes. The vote was 126,850-102,630.
"It's a good feeling to have the support of voters," said Brubaker. "I want to make sure that the projects we do, the public and their local officials are well-informed of what those projects are, and have an opportunity to provide input."
Appointed to his position in 2003, Bachman ran uncontested in the 2004 election.
He said he ran a "good, clean, honest campaign." He said it was a rough election for Republicans, and he suspected voters support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama carried over into other offices.
He said he had not yet decided on his political future.
Brubaker will assume his new responsibilities Jan. 5, 2009. As county engineer, he will oversee the county's 200 miles of township roads, 314 waterway bridges, and some storm water drainage functions. The department employs 130 employees operating under an approximately $17 million annual budget.
A lifelong resident of Summit County, Brubaker has been a professional engineer for 35 years, including more than 20 years as Kent's city engineer.
In addition to promoting a more regionalized approach to roadway, bridge and storm water drainage issues, Brubaker said he plans to revise departmental staffing.
E-mail: aniswander@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3947