[3] The General Assembly passed Senate Bill 221, creating a standards program, in 2008 upon which Governor Ted Strickland signed the legislation.

Skindell won the nomination over former Rep. Ron Mottl Jr., Parma Councilman Nicholas Celebrezze and John Harmon with 46.82% of the vote.

In 2000, Skindell and Lakewood City Council colleague Nancy Roth introduced legislation to extend health and other benefits to unmarried couples.

Public perception latched onto the legislation as a proxy for arguments over same-sex marriage and cultural change, with hundreds of people in attendance at a single committee hearing in January 2000.

[6] Skindell led a Democratic effort to stop film tax credit legislation in 2008, drawing scorn from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

[11] Lakewood Hospital became a major political and legal controversy in the city, although the mayor and council ultimately pushed through the planned closure despite significant protest.