Mario Rodriguez Jr. has been appointed by Painesville City Council to fill its vacant Ward 2 seat.
His swearing in is scheduled for the Aug. 15 council meeting, which will start at 7:30 p.m. in Courtroom 1 of Painesville City Hall, 7 Richmond St.
Rodriguez will fill the seat formerly held by Councilwoman Katie Jenkins, who stepped down on July 31 citing new work and educational responsibilities.
Council President Christine Shoop noted in a news release that City Council interviewed “six excellent candidates” for the open position.
“In the end, we focused on what skillset each candidate offered,” she said. “Mario has a customer service background and knows how to problem solve and communicate effectively. We felt his background would bridge well representing the residents of Ward 2.”
According to the news release, Rodriguez is a commercial accounts manager at Advance Auto Parts and has also volunteered as a Spanish-English interpreter with HOLA Ohio.
Rodriguez added that he has four children in the Painesville City School District, and his wife works at Morley Library.
“I’m so vested in Painesville. I love Painesville,” he said, adding, “This is home and I want to see great things for home, and I’m sure all the residents in Painesville want the same, so I hope to get on that same page and help out with all the other City Council men and women.”
Rodriguez noted that his main concern right now is the retaining wall project at Bank Street, which is located in his ward.
“It definitely affects a lot of the residents in Ward 2, so that’s something that I’m going to, you know, take focus on, and assess what’s going on in the city,” he said. “But that would be, you know, just a start.”
Rodriguez will fill the remainder of Jenkins’ term and receive the standard $7,000 council member salary, noted city Communications Coordinator Kathleen Sullivan. Council seats for all four wards will be up for election in November 2023.
