This article is part of the 2025 General Election Voters' Guide produced in partnership with the League of Women Voters of the Akron Area.

Drew C. Reilly is running to be the law director in Stow.
Drew C. Reilly is running to be the law director in Stow. (Photo courtesy of Drew C. Reilly)

Drew C. Reilly

Nonpartisan

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dcrWard1/

Previous public office: City of Cuyahoga Falls Ward 1 Council member from 2017-2020. Village of Mogadore Council member-at-Large from 2023-2013.

Training/experience: Previous Deputy Law Director for the City of Stow. Staff Attorney with the Summit County Land Bank. Judicial Attorney for Judge Nicole Walker of the Akron Municipal Court.

Education: Juris Doctorate – University of Akron School of Law. Bachelor of Science in Political Science – Southeast Missouri State University. Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy – Southeast Missouri State University.

Why are you the best candidate for the office?

I am the best candidate for this position because of my history of service, my dedication to the job, and my legal experience.

I am lucky enough to have worked in different municipalities, and in different levels of local government for my entire career. Having this experience makes me a more well-rounded attorney for the City. I have contacts throughout the region in both public and private sector.

This job also requires an openness and a willingness to learn – two characteristics that I have. I am constantly learning and attempting to bring new opportunities to the City that have not been tried before. Not to mention, I love this job. I love the people that I get to work with, and the resident I get the opportunity to assist.

What are the top priorities you seek to address once in office?

As the incumbent, I think that appropriate answer is I seek to continue bringing the exciting new programing that I have worked on for the past two years. I want to expand the amount of Senior Programing that my office has developed for the Stow Senior and Community Center. I look forward to implementing the Stow Public Arts Master Plan that I assisted with starting.

I can’t wait to see the groundbreaking of the City’s Amphitheater project and the development of an entertainment district on the northern sector of the City. Finding creative ways to bring interesting programming and exciting opportunities for our residents has been a cornerstone of my time in this office.

Importantly, I also look forward for other opportunities that my office has with assisting the operation of the Stow Municipal Court. Whether it is through my assistance as the Court’s legal counsel or through the Prosecutors that I employ to prosecute cases, the partnership of the Court is a major focus of mine.

What strategies will you use to accomplish those priorities?

I’ve already mentioned that openness and a willingness to meet with any party is an important aspect to this office. Too often in both political office and the legal field parties are reduced to an adversarial contest instead of an opportunity to come together to create.

Another important strategy is that I always need to be learning in this position. There is no way that any one person can be an expert in every field demanded of this job. Having that desire to learn and the ability to call on other people to offer their expertise is how projects get completed. Threaded through this is the need to work as a part of a team. For example, the Law Department of City can be an integral part of any municipal function, if and only if, it is plugged into the other departments. If the Law Department cannot see how each department plugs into the operation of the City, it cannot assist those departments achieve their goals.    

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.