“My parents were first generation Americans who struggled hard,” Sen. Voinovich says. “They underscored that as citizens of the United States we had an obligation to give back to our community.”
At Collinwood High School, Sen. Voinovich told classmates he would become mayor of Cleveland. At Ohio University, where he served as student body president before going on to law school at Ohio State University, Sen. Voinovich went one step further, announcing he would one day be governor.
By the time Sen. Voinovich campaigned to become Cleveland’s mayor, he had already served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1967-1971), Cuyahoga County Auditor (1971-1976), Cuyahoga County Board of Commissions member (1977-1978) and lieutenant governor (1978-1979).
Sen. Voinovich was elected mayor in 1979, and served from 1980 to 1989. He became the first big-city mayor to incorporate public/private partnerships into municipal governance. He was an early proponent of Cleveland’s waterfront development, supporting the creation of the North Coast Harbor, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Great Lakes Science Center (Voinovich Bicentennial Park is named in his honor).
He also enticed major corporations to open downtown Cleveland offices and helped lay the groundwork for the Gateway Sports District.
“I have always said what I’m really proud about is not so much the physical infrastructure of the city but its civic and human infrastructure,” he says.
As governor of Ohio (1991-1998), and later a member of the U.S. Senate (1999-2011), Sen. Voinovich continued to promote the merits of collaboration between public agencies and the private sector, and he worked to keep a tight rein on government spending. In 1995, he was named public official of the year by the magazine GOVERNING, for his many accomplishments.
After retiring from the senate in 2011, Sen. Voinovich moved back to Collinwood, to the same home where he and his wife Janet raised their four children.
But he has not retreated from causes close to his heart, including raising awareness on the national debt and writing a book on public/private partnerships.
“I tell people that just because I’m retired doesn’t mean I should stop using what God has given me to continue making a contribution in people’s lives,” he says.
Sen. Voinovich passed away on June 12, 2016. He was 79.
Recent Comments