Former Toledo City Councilman George Sarantou wants voters to decide for him if he should serve as mayor or as an at-large councilman — or at all.
Mr. Sarantou is expected to pull petitions Tuesday morning to run for both the Toledo mayoral and city council race.
A statement issued by a publicist on Monday night said Mr. Sarantou, a Republican who also is a former finance director for the city, will pull the petitions at 10:30 a.m. at the Lucas County Board of Elections, One Government Center, at Jackson and Erie streets in downtown Toledo.
Mr. Sarantou will consider running for one of the council’s at-large seats, in addition for mayor, then wait to gauge his viability in both races.
“This will allow voters the opportunity to weigh-in on where I can best serve Toledo,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
While on council, Mr. Sarantou also served 11 years as chairman of its finance committee. He spent 12 years on council until the late Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins appointed him as the city’s finance director in 2014.
“Over the next year the city of Toledo will receive roughly $180 million from the federal government in response to the COVID crisis. This calls for financial expertise in the mayor’s office and on city council to determine where this money should be spent and to make sure the taxpayers are No. 1 when it comes to spending that money,” Mr. Sarantou’s statement read.
Mr. Sarantou, of West Toledo, is a 1970 DeVilbiss High School graduate, and has been inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
He graduated from Ohio State University in 1974, and has worked as a financial adviser for the past 39 years.
He and his wife, Barbara, have three daughters and five grandchildren.
First Published June 8, 2021, 12:08 a.m.
