These days it can feel like politics - and politicians - are more divided than ever, but an interesting thing is happening in University Heights.
A largely liberal city, where over 70% of residents voted for President Biden, elected Republican Michele Weiss to city council. Then, her colleagues, most of whom are Democrats themselves, elected her - the only Republican on city council - to be their Vice Mayor.
And many of those Democratic colleagues genuinely like and admire her.
鈥淲e work so well together, we talk several times a week,鈥� Democrat John Rach told The Ohio Newsroom. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on the same page. We kind of complete each other鈥檚 sentences because we all have the same goal on the city so she鈥檚 been tremendous to work with.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 amazing, Michele is really quite amazing,鈥� is what another Democratic colleague, Barbara Blankfeld said. 鈥淪he is someone who will ask those questions of will that sometimes you will have an ah-ha moment that you didn鈥檛 look at it that way before.鈥�
And Weiss feels just as warmly about many of her Democratic colleagues.
鈥淚 have had no issues with anybody, we get along wonderfully, everyone is respectful of each other鈥檚 views on council,鈥� she said.
Now, Weiss is a no-apologies Republican. She voted for Donald Trump, twice. She鈥檚 on the executive committee of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party. She鈥檚 a fiscal conservative, a fan of capital markets who thinks the government should stay out of free enterprise鈥檚 way. Religion is very important to her - she鈥檚 Orthodox Jewish.
But on many issues, she lands somewhere between the right and the center.
Take, for instance, gun rights.
鈥淚 believe that people have the right to carry, I don鈥檛 think anyone should have a machine gun,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just a perfect example of coming together in the middle.鈥�
She also supports things like federal Title 1 funding for schools. Education, in general, is a top political concern of hers. She is the controller for the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland.
Weiss also sees the value of some social safety net programs to help low-income families since believes private enterprise isn鈥檛 enough, though she feels they ought to be short-term to help folks get on their feet. And she has no problem with government paying for infrastructure - who else is going to do it?
All that makes her, she said, a moderate Republican - one that has lots of friends who are Democrats.
鈥淲e can debate, and we agree a lot,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to say 100% but it鈥檚 a respect and I think the national politics have lost that respect for each other.鈥�
鈥淧eople have to remember they have to be kind to each other, and I think that鈥檚 also kind of missing in some of our politics. You have to be human, you know that element is missing a little bit unfortunately.鈥�Michele Weiss
Talking without agreeing, being open to someone else鈥檚 point of view, is exactly what she wishes more politicians would do.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e elected to be a representative of your constituents and I think people have kind of gone rogue on both sides and are not listening to their constituents because it seems like a lot of people are moderate,鈥� she said.
Weiss鈥� disappointment with politicians increases the higher up the chain they get. Local government is largely functioning, she believes.
On the state level, she鈥檚 a fan of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine; she said he handled the pandemic particularly well. But she seems disillusioned with the folks in D.C. She said it often seems like they are trying to 鈥渕anipulate situations to get ahead鈥� instead of working on the problems their constituents face in the current moment.
She is one of those people who truly believes that if you sit a group of people down at a table and let them talk things out, they can come to some sort of consensus.
鈥淧eople have to remember they have to be kind to each other, and I think that鈥檚 also kind of missing in some of our politics,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to be human, you know that element is missing a little bit unfortunately.鈥�
Her advice to national politicians is to go back home and meet the people they鈥檙e supposed to be representing.
鈥淵ou know your job is to serve the people so you need to understand what your people are doing,鈥� she said.
For her part, she plans to continue serving her own small city, working with people on the other side of the aisle, in the hopes that she can 鈥渕ake the world a little bit of a better place鈥� than when she arrived.
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