About Fran
Fran Mentch, LISW, MSW, MLIS
My husband, Mace, and I and our two girls moved to our home on Lynn Park Drive in 1989. While the girls attended public school I was active as a school volunteer, as an officer in the Noble Elementary PTA, and I was the Noble School liaison for the school levy campaign. After our older daughter graduated from Noble, we sent both girls to Laurel School; one graduated from there and the other graduated from Hawken School.
I have a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, and I am licensed as an LISW-S. My social work career includes employment in hospitals, mental health centers, nursing homes, adult protective services, and the psychiatric emergency room at St. Vincent Charity Hospital; I was a program manager for eight years for the psychiatric emergency service, the Cuyahoga County Mobile Crisis Team.
While a program manager for the Cuyahoga County Mobile Crisis Team I earned a Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University.
Combining the best of both worlds, I am now the Social and Behavioral Sciences Librarian at Cleveland State University. And, because I am so interested in the nature and lives of neighborhoods and cities, I have taken several classes in Cleveland State’s College of Urban Affairs and have applied to that PhD program.
I have taught courses at Tri-C, Bryant and Stratton and CSU. Currently I teach a continuing education course at Lakeland Community College and Cleveland State University called “Information Resources for Social Service Professionals”.
I am a member of SEIU District 1199.
Several years ago I led a group of my neighbors to improve the aesthetics and economic prosperity of the Warrensville-Mayfield retail district. As a result we created a non-profit called Severance Neighborhood Organization whose mission is to strengthen the greater Severance area through efforts driven by citizen-volunteers to build community, beautify, and enhance the neighborhood’s residential and commercial areas. As president I am leading our current activities to organize the merchants in the retail area, increase greenspace, improve aesthetics, and decrease crime.
My volunteer experience also includes working for Heights Families for Equality and I have served as a tester for Heights Community Congress. My husband, Mace, and I belong to Future Heights and have contributed articles to the Heights Observer; I am a regular volunteer editor and contributor for that paper.
Mace and I are lifetime members of the Friends of the CH-UH Public Library and have been Friends of Cain Park and members of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Natural History Museum, MOCA, SPACES, subscribers to the Cleveland Orchestra, etc. for as long as I can remember. Like so many other Cleveland Heights residents we enjoy and support Ensemble Theater, Dobama, and the many other theatrical organizations in our area.
We are grateful to all our artists for enriching our lives and we try to support them in whatever way we can.
Why do I deserve your vote?
I think that over the course of this important and exciting campaign that this will become clear. This website is a good place to start. Please be sure to check back frequently because I will be adding videos and articles throughout this important campaign.
But I also want you to contact me to learn more about my platform and to invite me to speak to your group of friends and the organizations you are involved in.
I hope to talk with you soon!
