Toledo mayoral candidate Wade Kapszukiewicz on Tuesday created a task force to study cost-savings in city government, and offered a glimpse into his possible administration by appointing Oregon city administrator Michael Beazley as one of three members.

The purpose of the task force is to help Mr. Kapszukiewicz live up to his campaign promises of merging city and county agencies that have similar or overlapping duties.

Those could include building inspection, purchasing, payroll, information technology, human resources, and economic development, Mr. Kapzukiewicz said, though he has not offered any detail as to how those agencies would be combined or if any jobs would be eliminated.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz, an unendorsed Democrat and the Lucas County treasurer, is one of four candidates in the mayoral primary set for Sept. 12. Early voting is already under way at the Lucas County Board of Elections’ Early Vote Center.

Also on the ballot are incumbent Mayor and endorsed Democrat Paula Hicks-Hudson, endorsed Republican city Councilman Tom Waniewski, and self-described “prophetess” Opal Covey. The two highest vote-getters will face off Nov. 7.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz acknowledged he is seeking to have Mr. Beazley join him as chief of staff if he takes over leadership in the mayor’s office the 22nd floor of Government Center.

“He would be fantastic. He is exactly the sort of person I would look to hire in my administration. I have spoken to him,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

Mr. Beazley, 63, is a prominent figure in Lucas County government, having served as Lucas County Democratic chairman, clerk of Toledo City Council, and Lucas County administrator.

Mr. Beazley confirmed he has agreed to serve on the task force to examine ways of saving taxpayers money. He confirmed that Mr. Kapszukiewicz approached him about joining his administration, but has made no commitments.

“I have a job I enjoy and lots of things are going on in Oregon that are important right now. I like my job and I don’t have any plans to leave,” Mr. Beazley said.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz said consolidating city agencies could save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Standing in Toledo’s UpTown neighborhood, at 12th and Adams streets with some broken asphalt road surface as a backdrop, Mr. Kapszukiewicz said his plan would free up resources for delivery of basic city services such as road repair and infrastructure improvements.

“Toledo city government needs to innovate, reform, and adapt to a new set of realities. Consolidating redundant city and county departments is a common sense step to improve service and cut costs,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

Mayor Hicks-Hudson said she sees consolidation as worthy of investigation but said it has not been a top priority for the city or the county government.

“I’m not sure you’re going to eliminate jobs in any of those,” she said.

“My priorities are preserving safe drinking water, preserving liveable neighborhoods, and the job growth that has been happening,” Ms.Hicks-Hudson said.

The mayor said she worked on consolidating state agencies when she worked under Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in Columbus, and said her administration has started discussions with Toledo Public Schools about collaborating on mowing parks and school fields that often are adjacent.

Waniewski spokesman Tedd Long suggested that Mr. Kapszukiewicz didn’t say much.

“Wade’s announcement today sounded much like his last one on universal prekindergarten education. While it’s an interesting ‘aspirational’ goal, he didn’t present any substantive plans or measurable goals. Tom Waniewski has a clear and simple plan on how to move our city forward and he’s been sharing the details throughout this campaign,” Mr. Long said.

Rounding out the Consolidation Task Force named by Mr. Kapszukiewicz are financial adviser Rita Mansour, senior managing director of Mansour Wealth Management, and technology entrepreneur Will Lucas, founder and CEO of AWLCo. and a member of the University of Toledo Board of Trustees.

Contact Tom Troy at tomtroy@theblade.com, 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published August 22, 2017, 10:37 p.m.