OPINION: Charita Goshay: How can we keep best, brightest in Stark County?

March 10-- Mar. 10--One thing we know for sure: Lori Lightfoot didn't move to Chicago for the weather.

If you recall, temperatures there fell to 57 degrees below zero during a wind-chilled week in January. Images looked like they were shot on Neptune.

It was warmer in Anchorage than along the shores of Lake Michigan.

On April 2, Lightfoot, who grew up in Massillon, could make history as the first black woman elected mayor of Chicago.

It's the latest chapter in a stellar career that began with her graduating with honors from Washington High School and the University of Michigan, and earning a full academic scholarship to the University of Chicago Law School, followed by a clerkship with the Michigan Supreme Court.

Her professional career includes: service as a legislative aide for the late U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula, a federal prosecutor, president of the Chicago Police Board, chair of the Police Accountability Task Force, chief of staff and general counsel for the Chicago Office of Emergency Management, and most recently, senior equity partner at Mayer Brown LLC.

Who's talking?

Lightfoot, who moved to Chicago in 1986, is running as an independent whose proposals include making the city more conducive to startups and small businesses, taking better advantage of Opportunity Zones created by the Trump Administration and relocating some city services to neighborhoods.

It's a scenario we've seen too many times, one of an educated young person leaving Stark County and entering the brain-drain pipeline to Columbus, Pittsburgh, Chicago, New York City and Florida.

The hard question we must ask ourselves is what, if anything, can be done to keep such brilliant and talented people here more often?

When people say Stark County is a good place to live, they aren't entirely wrong about it.

But perhaps it depends, somewhat, on who's doing the talking. How many Lori Lightfoots are practicing corporate law in Stark County, or are serving as prosecutors, legislative aides, or even as judges in the past 40 years?

'Midwest Nice'

While Stark County's location and the cost of living should be enough of a magnet, there's clearly a disconnect. Young adults make no secret of their intention to leave here as soon as they're able. There's nothing more disheartening than visiting a classroom and asking: "How many of you intend to leave after graduation?"

They'll tell you they're leaving in pursuit of more opportunity, diversity and culture, which tells us we must become much, much more intentional in making it clear they're not only wanted, but also needed here, and prove it by incentivizing decisions to stay.

They'll tell you it's a quality of life issue, from something as innocuous as wanting food trucks, to more recreational venues and cultural events.

Stark County is what people mean when they say "Midwest Nice," but we can be knee-jerk in our suspicions of people who look, act and think differently. Ohio State and the Statehouse aren't the only reasons Columbus is running laps past everyone else in Ohio. It has reinvented itself as an international city open to immigrants, the LGBT community and young people, all of whom are drivers of new businesses.

Meanwhile Stark is growing poorer, smaller and older according to the most recent census.

All of us know a Lori Lightfoot, a supremely talented person who would have been a boon to Stark County had he or she stayed. The question we must continually ask ourselves; Why they are taking those talents to other places and never looking back?

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or [email protected].

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

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