Bios

Bios

The individuals on this page were involved in the acquisition of the EAC grant and the creation of this website.

For a list of Cuyahoga County’s current election administration, please follow the link to the Board of Elections website: Board Members & Staff

AGENCY EXECUTIVES

Jane Platten

Jane Platten served as Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections beginning in 2007. Since being appointed Director, Ms. Platten led the simultaneous overhaul of all agency operations while seamlessly meeting the demands of Cuyahoga County’s successful transition from an electronic, touch screen based voting system to a precinct based optical scan paper ballot system. Ms. Platten’s work in bringing health and stability to the agency resulted in the renewed sense of community and voter confidence in the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
As Director, Ms. Platten demonstrated a committed focus on implementation of best practices in the areas of election administration, pre-election ballot and system testing and post-election auditing. Ms. Platten is a member the Election Verification Network and has participated in national and state post-election audit workgroups. Her election administration expertise has been tapped on National Public Radio, CNN and other national news outlets. She has been featured in periodicals such as the New York Times Magazine, Congressional Quarterly, The Washington Post and Governing Magazine.

*Ms. Platten resigned as Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in 2013.

Pat McDonald

Pat McDonald was appointed Deputy Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in July of 2007. A native Ohioan, he is a graduate of the University of Dayton. Mr. McDonald holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as a master’s degree in public administration. He is a Certified Public Financial Manager with an established public service history.
Mr. McDonald served for eight years as Finance Director for the Ohio Secretary of State, and was Assistant Director for the Ohio Department of Commerce before becoming Deputy State Treasurer. With this strong foundation in budget and financial management, Pat instituted key reforms to the operations for the Ohio Treasurer of State’s office. He brings nearly twenty years of administrative and executive management experience to the Board of Elections. As Deputy Director, he committed to provide voting services that are accurate and transparent in a cost-effective manner.
*Mr. McDonald has served as Director since January 2013.

PROJECT MANAGER
Shantiel Soeder

Shantiel Soeder has held several different positions at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections: Executive Assistant; Poll Worker Coordinator; Poll Worker Assistant Manager; Poll Worker Manager. In January of 2010 she was given the opportunity to lead the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department where she was responsible for the creation and layout of the official ballot, testing of election tabulation equipment and managing all election night activities. With a master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University, Ms. Soeder managed to combine educational knowledge with practical experience while assisting in improving the Boards’ election procedures. Ms. Soeder was one of the “Top Twenty in Your Twenties” awardees from Crain’s Cleveland Business Magazine in 2009.
*Ms. Soeder has served as Election and Compliance Administrator since August 2015.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT
Robin Roy

Robin Roy joined the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Information Technology team in 2004 as the agency’s Network Administrator. He specializes in advanced technology applications in the field of elections. He is a Network and Systems Engineer with over 17 years’ experience in information technology, design, deployment, integration and administration of local and wide area networks (Ethernet, Routing, Switching, TCP/IP and Network Management). His background includes software development, database design, system engineering & web applications, firewall policy management, analysis of risk factors and implementing change requests.
*Mr. Roy has served as Chief Information Officer since March 2015.

PROJECT SUPPORT
Dennis Anderson

A Cleveland native, Mr. Dennis L. Anderson graduated from John F. Kennedy High School Class of 1974 and attended Cuyahoga Community College, with concentrations in Government and Law Enforcement. Mr. Anderson committed several years to the Community Outreach Department before becoming the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Community Outreach Manager. The department handles day-to-day community and media events for the Board of Elections. As manager, he ensured that all community members received information and resources in activities such as voter registration, voter education, voting technology tutorials, mock elections, and the voting process. He also coordinated media requests from local, national, and international media outlets. Mr. Anderson is dedicated to providing all sectors of the community with the latest information regarding the voting process and provides support to ensure the high quality of customer service is provided to the citizens and voting community of Cuyahoga County.
*Mr. Anderson has retired as Community Outreach Manager from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Laura Black

Laura Black began her work with the Board of Elections in 2006 and served in multiple positions. In her role as the Director’s Executive Assistant, Ms. Black obtained a wide variety of knowledge regarding election administration and conducted research regarding audits. As Assistant Manager of the Poll Worker Department, Ms. Black oversaw the development of the poll worker training curriculum and used her experience to create adult learning materials. Prior to joining the Board of Election’s team, Ms. Black served as a legal analyst for the Cuyahoga Election Review Panel. The panel was commissioned to review the procedures at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and offer suggestions to improve the agency’s practices. Ms. Black has a juris doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, where she also received her undergraduate degree in sociology.
*Ms. Black resigned as Assistant Manager of the Poll Worker Department in September 2013.

Brian Cleary

Brian Cleary has worked in the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department since coming to the Board of Elections in 2006. As Assistant Manager, he was responsible for the creation, layout and proofing of the official ballot. His responsibilities also included: testing of election tabulation equipment, uploading and tabulating all election night results, and conducting post-election audits. Mr. Cleary holds a B.A in criminal justice from Mercyhurst College.
*Mr. Cleary has served as Manager of the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department since August 2015.

Jason Culek

Jason Culek joined the Board of Elections staff in 2007. He has had extensive experience with ballot preparation and tabulation, absentee voting, campaign finance, and candidate and petition services. Mr. Culek’s responsibilities have included educating candidates, issue petitioners, and the public on the election process. Mr. Culek earned his B.A. in political science from Ohio University.
*Mr. Culek has served as Assistant Manager of the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department since 2015.

Patrick McAlea

Patrick McAlea began working at the Board of Elections in 2001. His supervisory experiences at the agency have included procedure development and daily operations of the absentee voting process, ballot creation, ballot tabulation, campaign finance report auditing and petition review. He worked extensively to develop processes used for the vote-by-mail and in-house voting operations in Cuyahoga County. As an Assistant Manager of the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department, he worked to develop and implement methods and procedures for testing voting equipment as well as managing staff during the ballot creation and tabulation process. Mr. McAlea holds a B.A. in political science from Cleveland State University.
*Mr. McAlea currently serves as Senior Absentee Voting Specialist.

Kevin Horvath

Kevin Horvath served as an Election Official in the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Mr. Horvath’s responsibilities included ballot creation and vote tabulation. His previous professional experience in election administration includes voter registration, candidate and petition services, and Election Day support for polling locations. Mr. Horvath holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Marist College.
*Mr. Horvath has resigned from the Board of Elections for other opportunities.

Robert Tenney

Robert Tenney served as an Election Official in the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department. Mr. Tenney’s responsibilities included ballot content proofing, ballot testing, and scanning equipment testing. In addition, he was responsible for database creation and review for testing procedures, election audits, and the scanning and tabulation of vote-by-mail ballots. Mr. Tenney served honorably with the U.S. Air Force for 4 years as an Aircraft Pneudraulics Systems Specialist Journeyman and held the rank of Senior Airman (E4).
*Mr. Tenney has resigned from the Board of Elections for other opportunities.

Sean Webster

As an Election Official in the Ballot Preparation and Tabulation Department, Sean Webster’s job responsibilities included ballot content proofing, ballot testing, and scanning equipment testing and maintenance. Mr. Webster earned his B.A. in political science from John Carroll University.
*Mr. Webster has served as Business Administrator since May 2013.

FISCAL OVERSIGHT
Marvin Davies

Marvin Davies served as the Fiscal Services Manager of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, where he developed the agency’s annual budget and managed the Board’s procurement and operation processes. He has over six years of government fiscal management experience with Cuyahoga County, in addition to eight years of private sector fiscal analysis. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, with an honors B.A. in business administration and a concentration in corporate finance.
*Mr. Davies resigned as Fiscal Services Manager in March 2013.

Michael Gonzalez

Michael Gonzalez joined the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in 2008 and served in many roles. As a Fiscal Specialist, he was responsible for assisting with creating and allocating the agency’s budget. He also supervised the Election Night reconciliation process and Election Day Voter Turnout process. His experience prior to working at the Board of Elections includes a Congressional Internship and a banking position with Bank of America. Mr. Gonzalez holds a B.A. in political science from John Carroll University and a master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University.
*Mr. Gonzalez has resigned from the Board of Elections for other opportunities.