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Ross DiBello

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This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Ross DiBello
Image of Ross DiBello

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments
Last election

September 14, 2021

Education

Bachelor's

The Ohio State University, 2005

Law

Cleveland State University, 2008

Personal
Birthplace
Cleveland, Ohio
Religion
Catholic
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Ross DiBello ran for election for Mayor of Cleveland in Ohio. He lost in the primary on September 14, 2021.

DiBello completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ross DiBello was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 2005 and a law degree from Cleveland State University in 2008. He began his legal career as an attorney with Cassandra Collier-Williams in 2009. Upon her election to the bench, DiBello joined the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court as Collier-Williams' staff attorney in 2012. In 2020, DiBello began working as a freelance document review attorney.[1] He previously worked as a professional poker player.[2]

Elections

2021

See also: Mayoral election in Cleveland, Ohio (2021)

General election

General election for Mayor of Cleveland

Justin Bibb defeated Kevin Kelley in the general election for Mayor of Cleveland on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Justin Bibb
Justin Bibb (Nonpartisan)
 
63.0
 
36,880
Image of Kevin Kelley
Kevin Kelley (Nonpartisan)
 
37.0
 
21,696

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 58,576
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Cleveland

The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Cleveland on September 14, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Justin Bibb
Justin Bibb (Nonpartisan)
 
27.2
 
10,901
✔
Image of Kevin Kelley
Kevin Kelley (Nonpartisan)
 
19.2
 
7,702
Image of Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich (Nonpartisan)
 
16.5
 
6,595
Image of Zack Reed
Zack Reed (Nonpartisan)
 
12.1
 
4,840
Image of Basheer Jones
Basheer Jones (Nonpartisan)
 
12.0
 
4,801
Image of Sandra Williams
Sandra Williams (Nonpartisan)
 
11.4
 
4,572
Image of Ross DiBello
Ross DiBello (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
1.6
 
639

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 40,050
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Ross DiBello completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by DiBello's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am an attorney who worked in the felony Court of Common Pleas for many years and was struck by how poorly our society has been designed. Rising inequality and unrepresentative government mismanaging taxpayer dollars have motivated me to run. Lifelong Clevelander living on the Westside currently, previously downtown and with family on the Eastside. As recently as 2012 I was working 2 near-minimum wage jobs in Cleveland and saw the struggles faced by co-workers and clients.

  • Government Reform; We must fix City Hall if we are going to be able to fix real problems.

  • Strip political power from the suburbs and out of state so that we can end crony capitalism and have a fair economy for all in every neighborhood.

  • New energy and well-run City Departments and Programs; We have to fund the health department, recycling and other services and actively respond to citizen concerns.

Term limits, campaign finance reform, getting rid of tax abatements, criminal justice reform, fiscal equity and supporting new and small businesses over big business, building affordable housing, promoting public transit and public schools, cleaning our environment, lessening crime via social inequality.
My mom and my old bosses Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams and Anthony Parker. I would like to follow their examples and those of old philosophers who seemingly stay on the straight and narrow and serve others all the time without regard for self. They have a daily work ethic which has shown me how to operate. Teachings from historical leaders of the past has helped me to stay centered and only focus on what I can control but to do my duty.
The Book: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. The campaign finance teachings by Lawrence Lessig.
Dignity; work ethic; justice.
High Work Ethic and Compassion for Others
Take care of the public good and the state of the place.
Reform of the System
The Browns loss to the Denver Broncos in what is known as The Drive. 4 years old.
Painting; one summer during high school.
Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl - It helped me realize the dangers of civilization and people's mental abilities and vulnerabilities. How, by far and away, what matters most is what is inside of people.
The Wolverine.
TLC Waterfalls
How little income I made from 2009 to 2012 while still facing debt then and now. Witnessing Cuyahoga County felony court for many years.
It means fighting for those who maybe cant fight for themselves in terms of budgeting and policy, specifically kids. It means being an example and inspiration for others. Prioritizing the public good over your own interests.
CEO of the school board, the person who writes the budget and the face and voice that empowers all residents.
N/A
A check and balance on one another. Use discussion and debate to innovate and figure out the best way forward no matter the issue, department or contract.
The people.
Poverty, city services, health and safety problems, the environment and criminal justice reform.
The state listening to the city and setting aside funding. The state needs to support public schools, public transit, bail reform and other measures which have hurt the city to this point.
The Federal Government listening to the city lobby. Devote some current excesses of the budget towards fixing the environment, creating jobs, affordable housing, infrastructure, public schools, public broadcasting and small businesses. Raising the minimum wage and advocating expungements. Support for mental health and drug epidemics. Being able to legislate independently and not cave to the interests of powerful business lobbying such as banks and guns. The influence of the super wealthy is hurting the country in cities as much as anywhere.
Songs by The Lonely Island
Hiring the chief and safety director and demanding a culture of accountability, inclusion and compassion. Put law enforcement in a position to focus on the big problems like sex crimes and homicides and not spend resources on non-dangerous concerns. Ramping up technology so as to create open data and answer public records requests. Supporting officer wellness and continued bias and use-of-force trainings.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

DiBello's campaign website stated the following:

“

Why I'm Running
Too many of our children are living in poverty. Racial injustice is a crisis of both our morals and our public health. Our schools are failing students and their teachers.

Housing inequity, homelessness and lead paint poisoning are at crisis levels. Our public transportation system is in disrepair. Minority infant mortality rates, addiction and mental health issues go unaddressed in a city with world class medical facilities. Quality jobs with higher wages are needed to help our people lift themselves up.

All the while, a stagnant, toxic culture in City Hall has little to show for all their years in office. They’ve squandered our tax dollars and partnered with bad-faith actors.

Black Lives Matter
Politics and policy cannot matter more than black lives. Working in our court system for over seven years, I saw the law applied unfairly against minorities time and again. We have to fight this injustice daily and affect change by lobbying the state and doing whatever we can at the municipal level. Instituting curfews and bans cannot be the answer when we know how unevenly those laws will be enforced.

Current budget estimates have the city spending $218 Million on police in 2020. Rather than spending less, let’s spend it differently. Let’s spend more on our people and less on weapons. Let’s put that money toward education and innovations in community policing that will achieve more humanitarian results for the people of our city, and comply with Federal decrees and recommendations toward those ends.

We’re running out of time to bring our city into an actual renaissance, based on real leadership and inspired direction rather than catchy slogans, fleeting glamor from one-off events and shiny pet development projects.

We must come together to determine the direction that we want this city to go in, what reforms need to be made to get us there, and which leaders we need making those decisions.

The Hard Truth
The Mayor, City Council and too many other of our elected leaders make decisions based not on what is best for rank-and-file Clevelanders or the best practices for our city, but rather the fear of angering campaign financiers that reside outside of city limits.

The Right Future
Decisions that put Cleveland children, residents, local business and our civic institutions first will only be made by leaders who won’t cater to a broken campaign finance system. We must create a more democratic government by Clevelanders and for Clevelanders, through amendments to the City Charter put forth to the people:

  • Immediate Public Comment for all City Council Meetings.
  • Restrict individual donations to City of Cleveland candidates to a maximum of $750 a year (currently $5,000 per year mayoral and $1,500 per year for a councilperson)
  • Restrict corporate donations to a maximum of $250 to a City of Cleveland candidate (currently $7,500 mayoral and $3,000 per year for a councilperson).
  • Mayor and Council Members may not run for the same government position if they have served in that position for 5 years as of the date of the next election (This allows for 2 full terms in 8 years for new representatives).
  • Primary elections for future council and mayoral elections will occur during Presidential primary years, with general elections occuring during Presidential election years.
  • No more appointments for vacant Council or Mayoral seats.

When City Council voted overwhelmingly to increase campaign contribution limits in 2016, attentive taxpayers and those who closely follow policy gained an understanding of why we find ourselves in our current state. Ohioans need only look to present day events to see the influence of corporate money in government. Cleveland will not be able to compete with neighboring, similarly situated cities on a humanitarian or business level until we institute a system that ensures better leadership. We remain a city with great geographic and cultural advantages, but until we fix this broken system, the poor results and population loss will persist.

Other Ross DiBello for Mayor platform issues include:

  • Recast the yearly budget as a Moral Document.
  • Ensure a transparent, representative government that treats all Clevelanders equally by putting an end to crony capitalism and unfair, unjustified handouts of taxpayer money.
  • Unite all 17 Wards and 34 Cleveland neighborhoods.
  • Continuous community education to foster knowledge and appreciation of our diverse population.
  • Demand the Ohio Lottery renegotiate with the City of Cleveland.
  • Gun Buybacks and Criminal Justice Reform.
  • Prioritize public transportation, recycling, green spaces, schools, police, fire departments, libraries and other services.
  • Create more affordable living units within the city, not just high-priced condos.
  • Increase innovation in public education.
  • Rethink philanthropic financing and seek out global philanthropic interests in struggling urban areas.
  • Close Burke Lakefront Airport and create a vibrant lakefront with endless live/work/learn possibilities for Clevelanders.

With our current system, Clevelanders need to be aware that the Mayor they elect in 2021 could certainly still be campaigning in 2041 with a message that “there’s more work to be done.” That Mayor will outraise any ordinary, competent working resident of this city that wants to change it for the better. Now is our chance to secure a better future for our city and its people. If not, we’ll suffer the consequences for decades to come.

Democracy affords us the opportunity to set a high standard for our city. Will we continue to accept having the highest rate of child poverty in the country?

If the last five years are any indication, we know that once this election is over, the fat and happy residents of City Hall won’t be moved to action by any number of our signatures on any ballot initiative we put forth. If we act now, we can evict these negligent tenants and reclaim Cleveland government for Clevelanders.

Please join me in my campaign to reform Cleveland now and forever. Together we can make common sense, tangible changes that the current collection of lifelong politicians propped up by wealthy donors will never even bother to address.

The only way this situation changes is if Clevelanders are willing to act, speak the truth and become politically active in 2021.[3]

”
—Ross DiBello's campaign website (2021)[4]


See also

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External links

Candidate

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ LinkedIn, "Ross DiBello," accessed Aug. 10, 2021
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 3, 2021
    3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    4. ↑ Ross DiBello's campaign website, “Policy,” accessed June 21, 2021
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