Council interviews applicants for new cemetery‑district board; candidates emphasize creative, affordable approaches

The Summit County Council interviewed applicants July 5 for five vacancies on a newly formed cemetery district board. Candidates described a mix of professional and civic backgrounds: Krista (Christa) Cassidy highlighted experience in city and regional planning and prior work on cemetery issues; Loretta Haslock emphasized out‑of‑the‑box approaches such as memorial trees, urns and green burials; other applicants described community ties and governance interest.

Applicants asked about time commitment and startup duties; councilmembers noted the board must organize itself, may form committees (finance, site selection), and will at minimum meet monthly but likely meet more often during start‑up. Council members praised applicants' civic service and said they would recess to deliberate and plan to notify candidates of appointments promptly.

No appointments were made at the public meeting; council said it would return with appointments after private deliberation.