Dan Langshaw’s service runs deep in his DNA . As former North Royalton School Board Member, Cuyahoga Valley Career Center Board Member, elected four terms as a North Royalton City Councilman. Dan has dedicated his life to public service. He has lived in the city of North Royalton for over 30 years. As a North Royalton High School Alumni, it all began with Dan’s education in the North Royalton City School District that helped propel him towards a college degree and a career in public service.
A year after graduating from high school, Dan decided to put his college education on hold while attending the University of Akron to help serve his country as a member of the United States Army. Unfortunately his service was cut short due to an injury, which earned him an honorable discharge. Returning back home as a young veteran, he decided to continue his college education and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cleveland State University with his Bachelors of Arts Degree in Political Science. He also earned a certification from the Cleveland Mediation Center to be a Certified Mediator. Dan’s education and passion inspired him to become an advocate for Veteran’s issues and solving the educational funding crisis here in the state of Ohio.
Soon after two failed levies and a need for new leadership on the North Royalton School Board, Dan decided to run for the school board to help serve his community during tough economic times. Dan campaigned diligently by going door to door and knocking on over 6,000 doors of homes throughout the district. He wore out two pairs of shoes that year but proudly felt he could hear from as many residents as possible.
On November 3, 2009 at the age of 23, Dan became the youngest resident ever in the history of the North Royalton School District to be elected to the School Board. Some notable accomplishments of Dan’s were spearheading changes in Board policies to allow audio recording of all school board meetings and increased public transparency. He hosted Monthly Constituent Coffees which allowed the community to sit down and share their questions and feedback about the school district with him. Dan created a program called “Operation North Royalton Cares” that collects school supplies for families of North Royalton students in need. In 2012, the program helped a total of 93 students and 38 families living in the community.
As the Board Legislative Liaison, on four separate occasions, Dan gave a testimony before the Ohio General Assembly in Columbus on various proposed legislation that would have an impact on the North Royalton City School District. He even organized a series of regional roundtable discussions to engage key lawmakers and policymakers in the area to encourage positive changes in public education. He served a term on the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center Board to ensure students in the district were receiving career tech education and were well represented. All of these accomplishments helped earn Dan the honor of being chosen as a recipient of the 2012 Award of Achievement from the Ohio School Boards Association.
After serving on the School Board, Dan stepped up again to serve but on North Royalton City Council. On March 28, 2013 Dan first came into office by being appointed as the Ward 3 City Councilman to fill a vacancy after the death of the late Councilman Don Willey.
Then on November 5, 2013, Dan was elected to a two year term of his own. Dan served four terms on Council till July 2020. Transparency, communication, and advocacy have been the hallmark of Dan’s tenure on the North Royalton School Board and continue to be during his tenure as a Councilman on the North Royalton City Council. As a result, Dan was recognized as one of Northeast Ohio’s Top 25 under the Age of 35 Movers & Shakers Award honorees for 2014 by the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club.
Dan has also been a strong advocate for public safety so much that he was honored by the Cuayhoga County Sheriff for successfully graduating in 2018 from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department Citizens Academy to better assist his residents and support the North Royalton Police Department in keeping the community safe for all families to live in. Dan has been a strong advocate for years of improving local government funding to cities like North Royalton through personally testifying before the Ohio General Assembly. As a result of his efforts, Dan was able to successfully get the Ohio General Assembly to increase funding to the state’s local government fund in the 2019 states biennium budget.
Dan is also a recipient of the 2020 Blossom Hill Community Recognition Award for his decade of service to residents with developmental disabilities in the community. In June of 2020, Dan successfully in the minority on Council, was able to organize a historic community effort against the mayor’s unilateral closure of our city jail and save it.
Dan has served the city and Northeast Ohio in many roles as a resident and on Council. As a resident served as Chair for the 2012 Charter Review Commission. On Council he was President of Council Pro-Tem, Chair for the Safety Committee, Chair for the Review & Oversight Committee, Chair for the Storm Water Committee, Vice Chair for the Board of Zoning Appeals, and is former Treasurer of the Northeast Ohio City Council Association.
In the last decade, Dan is proud of what he has accomplished on behalf of his community. He looks forward to returning back to City Council once again, but this time with an entirely new city council majority to make both Ward 3 and North Royalton better for all our families.
Dan is also very actively engaged in the community and a member of various civic groups and activities such as Cuyahoga County Farm Bureau, North Royalton Garden Club, North Royalton Alumni Association, American Legion, North Royalton Educational Foundation, Disabled American Veterans, Strongsville VFW Post 3345, North Royalton Athletic Boosters, North Royalton Historical Society, Broadview Heights Historical Society, North Royalton Food Bank Volunteer, Operation North Royalton Cares, Blossom Hill Human Rights & Behavior Committee, North Royalton High School PTA, North Royalton Baseball Boosters Youth Baseball Coach, CYO Basketball Coach, North Royalton Family YMCA JR Cavs Basketball Coach, North Royalton GOP, former member of the North Royalton Kiwanis Club, Eucharistic Minister, and lifelong parishioner of St. Albert the Great Church. In addition to this, Dan has self-sponsored a high scholarship program since 2005. The “Dan Langshaw Leadership Scholarship”, is awarded each year to graduating seniors at North Royalton High School to recognize the achievements of student leaders in the district.
Besides his decade of public service on the School Board and City Council, he works as a Senior Veterans Service Representative for the VA helping fellow veterans and their families. He also works as an ESL Teacher for students overseas. Dan even wrote and illustrated his own children’s book about how local government works for young readers.
He has continued many of the community programs he started during his tenure on City Council such as the #MaskUpNoRo. This initiative has gotten over 6,000 free homemade cloth masks to residents and businesses to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The North Royalton Ward 3 Buddy Program was also established by Dan to help the elderly and residents impacted by COVID-19 get the necessary help they need during these tough times. His efforts going above and beyond to help the community throughout the pandemic. Earned him recognition by Giant Eagle’s Corporate Office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as one of their Great Neighbor Award recipients for 2021 nationwide.