Chris Ronayne
Cuyahoga County
Education: Miami University & Cleveland State University Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs
What Guides My Decision Making: I was a graduate assistant at Cleveland State University for Professor Norm Krumholz, who served as planning director for three Cleveland mayors, including Mayor Carl Stokes. In public decision making, Krumholz used to ask the question, “Who pays and who benefits?”— Who pays and who benefits from the decisions we make on behalf of the public?
Most Important Leadership Quality: Authenticity
If I Could Have Any Other Job: Journalist
My Very First Job and What I Learned From It: As a teenager, I sold ice cream from a cart in Downtown Cleveland. Selling it on Public Square, the malls and on Euclid Avenue, I got my first taste of how people interact in public space. What I didn’t know then was that while I was doing that job selling ice cream in interesting city spaces, I was learning about city planning.