In "Get to NEO a Leader" series, meet Richmond Heights Mayor Kim Thomas

Last month, Ideastream Public Media expanded it's news coverage to 22 counties, stretching across Northeast Ohio. 

From Ashtabula and Trumbull in the east to Erie and Huron in the west, from urban counties that touch Lake Erie like Lorain, Lake, and Cuyahoga, to more rural southern counties like Holmes, Stark and Tuscarawas... 

The area covers three million people, and a that means there are a lot of communities with which some of us have very little familiarity. 

Two weeks ago, we instituted a series that we'll do every few weeks here on the Sound of Ideas called "Get to NEO a Leader."  We'll talk to mayors and city managers, in communities large and small, about the places they lead - and we hope it helps connect and inform all of us living across the region. 

Earlier this month, we spoke with Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan about the city's new budget, and efforts the Rubber City was making to create a more racially equitable and socially just community.

Today, we'll kick off the hour with our next mayor in the series, Mayor Kim Thomas of Richmond Heights, in Cuyahoga County, who was just sworn into office this January. 

Later, a new report from the American Heart Association aims to tackle the intersection of health, equity, and the workplace. We'll talk to a local and national expert about the report, and what it means to you. 

And, we'll talk about a new series that asks, 'Is our democracy working for us?' The series, "Disconnected Democracy," is a collaborative project from the Ohio Newsroom.

-Kim Thomas, Mayor, City of Richmond Heights

-K. Kelly Hancock, Chief Caregiver Officer, Cleveland Clinic and Board Chair, American Heart Association 
-Gerald Johnson, Vice President of Health Equity and Chief Diversity Officer for the American Heart Association 

-Natalie Pillsbury, Director of Strategic Content Initiatives, Ideastream Public Media