Politics & Government
City Council Swears in Stephanie Snow Werren as Ward 3 Rep
New councilwoman is development director, graduate of Leadership Stark County.
North Canton has a new council member representing Ward 3.
North Canton City Council voted at a special meeting Oct. 3) to appoint Stephanie Snow Werren as the next Ward 3 representative. Werren received five votes, one more than needed, for the spot.
Law Director Timothy Fox swore Werren in after the vote. Her term begins immediately. She fills the Ward 3 seat left vacant by Fox when he resigned to become the city’s law director.
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Jon Snyder, Ward 4 representative and council president, started the meeting by saying council advertised the position and held three executive sessions, including one on Oct. 1, to deliberate the eight candidates
interviewed for the positon. One applicant later withdrew his application.
Snyder also said council needed four votes to approve a candidate and if the candidate did not receive the needed votes, council would continue to deliberate.
Find out what's happening in North Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Werren, 43, was born and raised in Canton. She graduated from McKinley High School in 1987, graduated from Miami University in 1991 and earned her MBA from Malone University in 1999. She worked in Chicago, IL, for four years and lived and worked in Hawaii for a year before getting married and returning to Stark County.
For the last seven years, Werren has been the development director for Leadership Stark County, a department of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce.
She lives in North Canton (see correction below). Her three children, who are triplets, are eighth graders at Oakwood School in Plain Local Schools.
"I applied for city council because I’ve always been a community activist including working with the YWCA, a number of home owner associations and other organizations,” Werren said.
“I graduated the Government Academy through Leadership Stark County six years ago and we’ve since had over 150 people participate and I’ve been able to see which city councils work and which ones don’t work. And, I think that experience is really unique and is one of the strengths I think I bring to this council position,” Werren said.
She also said that through Leadership Stark County, she has been able to experience school systems and economic systems of all of the communities throughout the county.
“Stephanie brings youth and vitality to the council and I was impressed with her and with her interview," Snyder said. "I think she’ll be able to perpetuate the mission of this city and we’re tickled to have her."
“The other candidates brought a lot to the table and it was a difficult choice. It was nice to see solidarity among the council members. In all my years on council, this is the finest group I’ve worked with,” he said.
Editor's note: Check back with North Canton Patch Thursday for a Q&A with Stephanie Snow Werren.
Also, North Canton Patch had also published originally that Werren lived in Plain Township. That is incorrect. Werren lives in a portion of the city of North that is served by Plain Local Schools.