The League of Women Voters of Delaware County invites you to a community forum 

Connections:

Linking Citizens and Public Officials for Better Communication

Monday, April 30, 2012

7:00 – 9:00 PM

Summit Room at Willow Brook Delaware Run

100  Delaware Crossing W., Delaware, OH 43015

 (off  W. William St.)

Join our panel of public officials in discussing your issues!

For further information contact:

Karen Rainey, President, at 740-368-9001 or

e-mail us at: info@lwvdelawarecountyohio@gmail.com

Find us at www.lwvdelawarecountyohio.com

and on Facebook at LWV Delaware County OHIO

 A program of the LWV Ohio Education Fund made possible by a grant from the Joyce Foundation

LWV Delaware County, LWV Metro Columbus and the Sierra Club will host a town hall meeting on clean air and public health on Tuesday, December 6, beginning at 7:00 PM at the Delaware County Developmental Disabilities Center, 7991 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center.  (This location is the same site as early voting in Delaware County, at the corner of Rt. 23 and Orange Road.)

Panelists for the event include:

Dr. Tim Buckley, OSU College of Public Health

Bob Hodanbosi, Chief, Ohio EPA Division of Air Pollution Control

Karen Heyob, Honda of America Mfg. Inc., Green Factory Initiative

and Dave Abel, Air Quality Program Coordinator, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, as moderator

LWV’s focus is on protecting clean air and public health.  There will time included for active dialog with the audience.

The League of women Votes of Delaware County and The Delaware Gazette are working hard to bring you this important voter information guide.  Many thanks to everyone involved for all your hard work.

OHIO BALLOT ISSUES

Issue 1: Proposed constitutional amendment to change the age at which a person may not be elected or appointed to a judicial office and to eliminate courts of conciliation and the supreme court commission (Proposed by Joint Resolution of the General Assembly of Ohio)

To amend Section 6 and repeal Sections 19 and 22 of Article IV of the Ohio Constitution

• A YES vote means approval of the amendment.

• A NO vote means disapproval of the amendment.

A majority YES vote is required for the amendment to be adopted.

If approved, the proposed amendment will take effect immediately after the election.

League Explanation of Issue 1: Currently a candidate for judge is not eligible to run or be appointed if the candidate will be 70 years old or older when assuming the office. The proposed change would prohibit a candidate for judge from being elected or appointed if that candidate exceeds the age of 75 years. This would allow a judge to assume office at age 75 and serve out a six year term, meaning that a judge could potentially serve until age 81. Currently Ohio is one of 20 states with an age of retirement of 70 years. Eighteen states have no age limit. Four have a retirement age of 72, seven have a retirement age of 75, and one has a retirement age of 90.

The amendment would eliminate the Supreme Court Commission (established in 1875) and Courts of Conciliation (established in 1851). Neither has ever been utilized.

Proponents of the proposed amendment argue that:

1. In 2011 people live longer and are mentally sound longer than was the case in 1968, when the current age limit was adopted.

2. Experienced, knowledgeable judges should be permitted to run for office. Voters should determine if a candidate for judge is able to serve.

3. If a judge is unable to perform judicial duties because of age or any other reason, the Ohio Supreme Court can discipline or remove the judge. In addition, judges are subject to impeachment proceedings in the Ohio General Assembly.

Opponents of the proposed amendment argue that:

1. Having a higher age limit effectively creates a more entrenched judiciary.

2. The current system works and there is no compelling reason to change it.

3. Extending the retirement age will burden the courts with some judges whose best years are behind them.

Issue 2: Referendum on legislation relative to government union contracts and other government employment contracts and policies (A referendum on Am. Sub. SB 5)

• A YES vote means approval of SB 5.

• A NO vote means disapproval of SB 5.

A majority YES vote is required for SB5 to become effective.

If approved, the provisions of SB 5 will take effect immediately after the election.

League Explanation of Issue 2: Approval of SB 5 changes laws concerning public employees, in particular teachers, firefighters and police. Major changes affect collective bargaining rights, salary schedules and compensation, layoff procedures, and leave. For example, approval would: prohibit public employees from striking; eliminate binding arbitration as a way to settle contract disputes for safety forces; require performance–based pay for teachers; provide a minimum that public employees must pay for pensions and health insurance; allow the governing body (public employer) to impose its own last offer to settle a contract dispute.

Proponents of SB 5 argue that:

1. Schools and local governments need to reduce costs to balance their budgets. They must have the right to reject unaffordable government employment contracts.

2. Government employees should pay a larger portion of the cost of health insurance and retirement plans in an amount closer to that paid by private sector employees.

3. Seniority-based layoffs for teachers often force the best teachers to be laid off first.

Opponents of SB 5 argue that:

1. Public employees should have rights to protect themselves in the workplace. For example, police and firefighters should be able to negotiate for critical safety equipment. Nurses should be able to demand reasonable staffing levels in hospitals.

2. The budget shouldn’t be balanced by requiring additional sacrifices by Ohio’s public employees who have already made over $350 million in concessions. Corporations should give up their tax breaks.

3. Teachers, nurses and firefighters did not cause Ohio’s budget problems.

Websites

• In support of SB 5: betterohio.org (Building A Better Ohio)

• In opposition to SB 5: weareohio.com (We Are Ohio)

Issue 3: Proposed constitutional amendment concerning health care and health care coverage (Proposed by Initiative Petition)

To add a new Section 21 to Article I of the Ohio Constitution.

• A YES vote means approval of the amendment.

• A NO vote means disapproval of the amendment.

A majority YES vote is required for the amendment to be adopted.

If approved, the proposed amendment will take effect 30 days after the election.

League Explanation of Issue 3: The amendment would add a section to Ohio’s Bill of Rights exempting Ohioans from the requirement that individuals purchase a minimum amount of health insurance coverage (individual mandate). The requirement is found in The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a federal law passed March 19, 2010. The amendment would also apply to any similar federal, state or local law requiring participation in health insurance or a health care system. It would not apply to any law or rule in effect as of March 19, 2010. This would include health insurance coverage such as Medicare, Medicaid, workers’ compensation, Social Security Disability, veterans’ programs as of that date.

Generally, a state law, or a state constitutional provision, cannot overrule a federal law. The PPACA is currently being challenged in federal court as violating federal law. The provision exempting Ohioans from PPACA would likely have little or no effect on that challenge. However, if passed, the amendment could have a direct impact on any Ohio law (state or local) with an effective date after March 19, 2010. Ohioans would be exempted from any requirement imposed by the Ohio legislature, or by any of Ohio’s counties or cities, which would require individuals to purchase health insurance. It is unclear how far that might extend and what the impact would be on such issues as workers’ compensation, Medicaid, or health services operated by the state such as clinics at state universities.

Proponents of the proposed amendment argue that:

1. The freedom from being forced to purchase government-defined private health insurance is a fundamental right that should be embodied in the Ohio Bill of Rights.

2. Government must be prohibited from passing laws requiring purchase of health insurance coverage.

3. Ohioans should be able to vote on whether they want to be covered by government-defined health insurance.

Opponents of the proposed amendment argue that:

1. Without required participation the entirety of the PPACA might be declared to be unconstitutional. Some consequences would be that insurance companies could continue to exclude people, including children, with preexisting medical conditions from getting health insurance coverage, and continue to impose annual and lifetime caps on health care coverage.

2. Exempting Ohioans from requirements of a federal law violates the U.S. Constitution and should be struck down by the courts.

3. Changes the Ohio legislature has made to health insurance coverage since March 19, 2010 as well as future changes would be invalid. This would include needed changes to Medicaid, workers’ compensation, and student health insurance.

Websites

• In support of the proposed amendment: ohioansforhealthcarefreedom.org (Ohioans for Healthcare Freedom)

• In opposition to the proposed amendment: ohioconsumersforhealth.org (Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage)

CITY COUNCIL RACES

Delaware City Council Ward 1

Chris Jones

Address: 196 Kettering Bend, Delaware

Age: 43

Occupation: Territory Manager (Oberfields LLC) since 1994

Education: Bachelor of Business Administration Mount Vernon Nazarene University

Qualifications: Current First Ward Representative (Appointed 2010)

Other than reduced revenues, what is the biggest issue Delaware City Council will face in 2012 and how would you address it?

• Chris Jones: Cost reductions have to be the number one priority in 2012. As a start, the city needs to address costs with any of its current vendors for products and service supplied to the city and lower or more competitive pricing should be sought including new vendors brought in if necessary. This would include everything from janitorial supplies to health care benefits and everything in between.

As a potential cost savings measure, the city recently approved an agreement to consolidate its recreation department services with the YMCA of Central Ohio. Do you have any similar consolidation ideas, and what are they?

• Chris Jones: I am willing to look at any consolidation measures that would save the taxpayers money. Not all consolidation makes sense or gives true savings to the taxpayers after due diligence has been done, but exploration of the savings should always be explored. For example, I would like to explore the idea of the city partnering with surrounding municipalities to purchase road salt in bulk that we could share and see if there is a cost savings in doing so.

Would you favor restructuring utility billing to encourage water conservation and recycling? Why or why not?

• Chris Jones: There is merit to this system from a residential view which various cities have done throughout the United States, but I would be concerned that having a city wide mandate would hurt businesses and possibly stifle economic development in the city.

What should the City of Delaware do to address its dwindling revenues?

• Chris Jones: The city needs to be more aggressive and creative in bringing new business to Delaware through economic development. Our industrial park and vibrant downtown are ideal locations for a small technology startup company all the way to major manufacturing facilities. Economic development HAS to be a top priority in 2012 and all council members need to have this at the top of their priority lists.

Delaware City Council Ward 2

Lisa M. Keller

Address: 253 Harmony Drive

Age: 37

Occupation: City council representative, former school teacher/police officer; small business owner

Education: M.A. from Ashland University; B.A. from State University of New York

Qualifications: A genuine love for Delaware, 3 years experience as 2nd Ward representative to Delaware City Council, vice-chair of the Public Works/Public Utilities Committee, Civil Service Commission and Parking and Safety Committee

Jim Roberts

Address: 108 Braddington Court, Delaware

Occupation: Currently – Self-Employed. Realtor with Century 21 and a licensed Insurance agent.

Formerly – An Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper for 27 years. Executive Director of the Ohio Troopers Coalition for 12 years. I have owned and operated two small businesses.

Education: I graduated from Hayes High School. I attended both Wilmington College and Hocking Community College.

Qualifications: I have been a public servant all my life. These combined experiences have given me the knowledge and experience required to be a good steward of the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars and apply common sense solutions to the challenges we ultimately face.

Other than reduced revenues, what is the biggest issue Delaware City Council will face in 2012 and how would you address it?

• Lisa M. Keller: The biggest issue we face, other than reduced revenues, is balancing our residential development with economic development. The “great recession” has taken its toll on Delaware, with many families facing unemployment, foreclosures and falling property values. As city leaders, we need to look at economic development to help fill the revenue gaps rather than asking for any further tax increases from our already over-burdened citizens. We have vast potential in our industrial park and airport that we need to market aggressively. Delaware’s fiber optic network needs to be expanded to attract high-tech business. We need to work to keep our downtown thriving and provide a vibrant atmosphere for small business. I look to these things to provide revenue needed to keep taxes low, provide jobs for our citizens, and help fund critical city projects. A thriving local economy benefits everyone.

• Jim Roberts: Everyone is aware that our revenues will be reduced over the upcoming years due to the weaker economy and reduced State and Federal budgets.

The City of Delaware will be required to closely examine each and every existing program to make sure that those expenditures are necessary and well administered thus insuring that there is no waste of tax payer dollars. The City will also be required to prioritize any new proposals for expenditures much more closely than in the past when financial growth was the expected norm. Every common sense effort should be made to supply the needed services to our citizens without unnecessary expenditures. The rational that – “that’s the way we have always done it” has to be eliminated.

As a potential cost savings measure, the city recently approved an agreement to consolidate its recreation department services with the YMCA of Central Ohio. Do you have any similar consolidation ideas, and what are they?

• Lisa M. Keller: As a member of Delaware City Council, we are always looking at ways to do more with less. The recent consolidation of our recreation services with the YMCA is an example of that. The move will save taxpayers approximately $150,000 dollars a year while expanding the level of service provided for our citizens. Sometimes consolidation makes sense and other times it is best to continue providing that service ourselves. As vice-chair of the Public Works/Public Utilities Committee, I requested we analyze potential cost savings from privatizing our trash services. An investigation of this issue showed the city’s service is more cost-effective and without many of the service issues that tend to arise with a private company. As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we are always looking for ways to save our citizens money, as long as we are still able to offer the highest level of service available.

• Jim Roberts: I applaud the city for its effort to think outside the box on the issue of consolidation with the YMCA although I am not yet convinced that it will ultimately produce the savings and service the citizens deserve. This experiment will need to be closely monitored and if it proves to be effective and efficient the door to further consolidation will then be opened. I believe that there could be a host of services that could be consolidated not only with private business but with the county or with surrounding Townships to eliminated existing duplication of services and expenditures. Consolidation, if conducted correctly, could go a long way to providing increased purchasing power and greater utilization of personnel and equipment.

Would you favor restructuring utility billing to encourage water conservation and recycling? Why or why not?

• Lisa M. Keller: Many other cities throughout the United States have initiated programs to encourage water conservation by restructuring their utility billing. Cities such as Easley, Minnesota have established tiered rate systems for residential water consumption. These tiered systems charge a slightly cheaper rate for lower-end water users to encourage conservation. I would be in favor of examining how such a system could be used in Delaware to encourage conservation among our residential customers only.

• Jim Roberts: I would favor restructuring utility bills or taking any other action to encourage the conservation of our natural resources as long as it is administered in a fair and consistent manner to the average citizen.

What should the city of Delaware do to address its dwindling revenues?

• Lisa M. Keller: The city of Delaware needs to address dwindling revenues with a multi-faceted approach that doesn’t include increasing taxes on our residents. We need to continue to look for opportunities for cost-savings and consolidation in every city department. We need to question every expenditure and make cuts where necessary. We need to continue leaving no stone unturned when it comes to saving the city money. We need to couple these efforts with a focus on economic development. Encouraging businesses to locate operations in Delaware will provide more jobs for our citizens and more revenue for the city of Delaware. Our economic development director needs to be given the tools and resources necessary to market our city to potential businesses to ease the burden on our taxpayers.

• Jim Roberts: The city of Delaware should work closely with our small business owners to encourage the success of those businesses and promote additional local jobs and growth to our community. I believe that we should pay closer attention to what has worked and what has failed in other communities to make sure that we are incorporating common sense programs that best serve or citizens.

Delaware City Council Ward 3

Joseph J. DiGenova

Party: Republican

Age: 65

Address: 68 Somerset Road, Delaware.

Occupation: Retired Business Manager.

Education: Attended The Ohio State University for two years. Studied Wholesale Management.

Qualifications: Incumbent. 20 years on City Council.

Robert Hoffman

Address: 48 Columbus Ave., Delaware, OH 43015

Occupation: Commercial and Industrial Credit Manager for Interstate Gas Supply, Inc.

Education: Graduated from Cedarville University with a B.S. in business.

Qualifications: Business background with an extensive understanding of financial statements and money management, as well as an ability to prioritize needs and functions.

Other than reduced revenues, what is the biggest issue Delaware City Council will face in 2012 and how would you address it?

• Joseph J. DiGenova: The number one asset we have is our people. Maintaining a good solid employee base; especially department heads and supervisors during budget restraints is very vital in providing the quality of service our constituents want and expect. Most of them have received little or no increases to keep up with the cost of living they are incurring. We need to keep our good employees and weed out the nonproductive and maintain that positive that has gotten us to the point we are today. Delaware has been a great city to represent but to make my job easy we need outstanding employees.

• Robert Hoffman: The setting of priorities and the willingness to make hard, and sometimes unpopular, decisions in order to provide needed services to the citizens of Delaware. There is an apparent lack on the city council’s part to be creative in resolving problems, to set priorities, and to operate within the revenue stream provide by the taxpayers. If the tax revenue to the city is down, that would mean that the taxpayer’s income is down, so why would the city’s first action be to increase taxes and fees? The solution is a common sense and disciplined approach to budgeting, increasing the city’s tax base, and a willingness to make the difficult decision.

As a potential cost savings measure, the city recently approved an agreement to consolidate its recreation department services with the YMCA of Central Ohio. Do you have any similar consolidation ideas, and what are they?

• Joseph J. DiGenova: Since being on City Council the last 20 years I have looked at several areas for consolidation. EMS with the county has proved thus far to be very successful. We are presently working on two new fire stations: one on the the northwest side of the city and the other in the southeast sector near Cheshire Crossing. Land has been purchased for both. Recycling and refuse had been looked at on several occasions. The results were significant that the best service we could do provide our constituents was to do in house. We need to up date our equipment and maintain an above average performance. Fifteen of so years ago we had an FBO at the airport. Results were terrible and it cost us more than $125,000 to buy out his contract. As one can see with the city managing the airport we have been very successful. We will continually work on any new areas for improvement if it benefits the city.

• Robert Hoffman: It would be prudent to promote a better working relationship between the city council, the school board, and the county commissioners and look into areas of service that can be consolidated. The city council, as well as the city administration should concentrates on protecting the taxpayer, not their turf. Additionally, the city needs to review annually, each program and service to determine if the program is meeting the intended goal, or if there is another more cost effective method to attain the required results.

Would you favor restructuring utility billing to encourage water conservation and recycling? Why or why not?

• Joseph J. DiGenova: Water conservation has never been a problem in Delaware. We do need to upgrade our water plant to meet the demands placed on us by the EPA — I believe we have to have this done by 2013-2014. If not, we will encounter a huge fine. I think we will look at any and all means there are to encourage water conservation. As far as recycling water, I’m not sure how we can do that. I would have to do more research on this subject matter to make a good evaluation for the city.

• Robert Hoffman: Only if the citizens actually receive a cost benefit (reduced rates). What will most likely happen under a conservation plan, is that the residences will actually curtail water usage, resulting in reduced revenues, and in order to make up for those lost revenues, the city will increase the base water rate, as well as the base sanitation rate. The result will be that the water user will be sending to the city, each month, exactly the same amount of money and receiving a lot less water.

What should the city of Delaware do to address its dwindling revenues?

• Joseph J. DiGenova: Dwindling revenues can only be offset with stronger economical development, continued communication with our state and federal government, elected officials and stronger management of current assets (tax dollars and personnel). We have been fortunate in the past several years to survive the economic downfall as other municipalities have. We have held our own and I plan on maintaining that. Issue 2 will be a grave concern for us and the cut back of state government funding will hurt us, but we will survive. We need to work on and get all we can from both Federal and state funding when it is available, but the number one for increasing revenues is more economic development and with our new director we will be successful.

• Robert Hoffman: The first thing to understand is that revenues have not gone down and neither has spending. The city’s 2010 revenues increased 9.6 percent, and overall spending was up 3.2 percent for the same period. The city needs to do what most households have been required to do over the past three years, and that is to budget better, which means to spend less and to spend smarter. The city council needs to understand that some things may have to wait. Furthermore, if city taxes and fees continue to increase, taxpayers (residence and businesses alike) are going to leave the city.

Delaware City Council Ward 4

Andrew W. Brush

Address: 42 1/2 E. Winter St. #11, Delaware, OH 43015

Age: 23

Occupation: Delaware City Councilman; Co-Founder, Best Light Video; Board of Directors, ECOT

Education: Delaware City Schools through 10th grade; 2006 Graduate of Columbus Academy

Qualifications: Lifelong Delaware resident; 4 years on city council.

Larry Garrett

Address: 27 Coventry Road

Age: 67

Occupation: President, Mail Pro 1 LLC. Commercial printing and mailing company located in Delaware.

Education: Summerfield Ohio High School, Columbus Business University, Business Administration

Qualifications: 30 years in major corporate management, 25 years entrepreneur, 40 years Delaware County/City resident. 67 years life experience.

Other than reduced revenues, what is the biggest issue Delaware City Council will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Andrew W. Brush: As the nation continues to pull out of recession, it’s critically important that Delaware is positioned well for economic development. Balanced growth, including commercial and industrial development, are vital to the long-term success of a community. Delaware has experienced a large quantity of residential growth since the early 1990s, and we need to continue to foster a friendly climate for business development and job growth.

To that end, in my second term on council I will continue to advocate further development of Delaware’s fiber optic infrastructure. Now that the economic development director position has been filled, city council will establish goals and objectives for our economic developer. I also plan to explore the possibility of creating a business incubator within the city of Delaware.

• Larry Garrett: City Management must get more efficient and creative in its operations to continue to supply the necessary services needed by the citizens. Delaware must prioritize between what the citizens need and what the city wants.

As a potential cost savings measure, the city recently approved an agreement to consolidate its recreation department services with the YMCA of Central Ohio. Do you have any similar consolidation ideas, and what are they?

• Andrew W. Brush: The agreement allowing the YMCA to handle recreation programming in the City of Delaware will render the same or better level of service for residents. Costs to participate in recreation programs will remain the same. Delaware taxpayers will realize a savings of nearly $150,000 in the city budget. The agreement will have sufficient public oversight, and the city may back out of the agreement at any time with 90 days notice. In my judgment, supporting this consolidation was an obvious choice.

I do not have any specific consolidation plans at this time. However, if I see an opportunity to save taxpayer dollars while rendering the same or better level of service to my constituents, I will absolutely pursue it.

• Larry Garrett: When I attended the Citizens Academy, I noted many areas that major dollars can be saved through improved efficiencies or consolidation. Because of the information that is available to me at this point, it would be inappropriate of me to suggest any changes that may adversely affect the dedicated city employees that take their job duties very seriously.

Would you favor restructuring utility billing to encourage water conservation and recycling? Why or why not?

• Andrew W. Brush: To the credit of Delaware residents, water consumption per capita has steadily declined since the early 1990s. Despite substantial growth since then, citywide water consumption has held fairly steady at just under 4 million gallons per day. Because the city water utility bills residents for water used, the current structure already encourages water conservation to a certain extent.

Allowing residents to opt for smaller trash containers and then reducing their refuse utility bill by a certain amount is one option that would encourage recycling. However, most of the cost in the refuse department is in collections, not in tipping fees. I support further exploration of this issue by city council’s Public Works Committee.

• Larry Garrett: Restructuring the utility bill to provide more detail to the customers can be done for virtually no cost. Conservation and recycling is a growing issue, and certainly must be encouraged.

What should the City of Delaware do to address its dwindling revenues?

• Andrew W. Brush: Since my election in 2007, I have consistently advocated for a balanced budget in the City of Delaware. I cast the lone dissenting vote against the proposed 2008 budget, which was not balanced. Since then, I’m pleased to report that we have passed three consecutive balanced budgets.

As chairman of city council’s finance committee, I am committed to addressing stagnant revenues in two ways. First, it’s critical that Delaware has a sustainable operation in the long term. To that end, we need to continue to have a comfortable rainy day fund, and we must continue to pass balanced budgets. Sometimes, this means making necessary cuts in order to live within our means. Second, it’s important that we continue to foster economic development to bring jobs and additional tax revenue to the City of Delaware.

• Larry Garrett: Like any business when revenue shrinks it must get more efficient, and generate more revenue streams. Business as usual cannot continue. Delaware City has just hired a new Business Development Director, but has given limited direction or support. The city must task and support the new director to aggressively increase business growth and development, not only for the good of the city but also to provide major financial support for our schools

Powell City Council

Jon C. Bennehoof

Address: 3974 Village Club Drive, Powell, OH 43065

Age: 62

Occupation: Business Transformation Executive

Education: BSBA, Management, Economics – Youngstown State University, Graduate work: MSA, Organizational Development – St. Michaels College

Qualifications: More than two decades of leadership experience on major global initiatives, state government experience, public and private sector business experience. Large and small organizations. Executive level leadership experience.

Richard A. Cline

Address: 290 Weatherburn Court, Powell, OH 43065

Age: 55

Occupation: Attorney

Education: JD, Ohio State University, BA, Political Science, BS, Criminal Justice, Kent State University

Qualifications: I have served on city council since 1996, and I chair the finance committee. I served as Mayor from 1998 to 1999. I served in the Ohio National Guard from 1978 to 2003 and retired as a Major, Judge Advocate General Corps.

Trent Hartanft

Address: 9116 Francine Lane Powell, OH 43065

Age: 37

Occupation: Business Development at DaVita Inc.

Education: Bachelor of Science from Ohio University

Qualifications: Experience in strategic planning, involvement in the community, common sense problem solving skills, and my commitment to always do the best job I can.

What solutions can you offer for traffic congestion in the City of Powell, mainly at the four corners intersection of North Liberty and East Olentangy Street?

• Jon C. Bennehoof: Powell’s current plan to complete Murphy Parkway and add turn lanes for the four corners is a great start. Parking elimination on Powell and Liberty roads, increased off street parking and other options need to be studied. Requesting a Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission study may be in order.

• Richard A. Cline: Addressing this problem is a three-step process. First, the city must complete the connection between the end of Murphy Parkway and South Liberty (south of the railroad tracks). This will create a bypass route in the southwest quadrant of the city and take some traffic away from the four corners, thus alleviating some of the traffic congestion at that intersection that occurs when through traffic is stopped because of turning traffic. The city owns the right of way needed for both of these projects — what we lack is the funding to pay for these capital projects. Finding a capital improvements funding source acceptable to the residents is the final step to address the traffic congestion at the four corners.

• Trent Hartanft: Congestion at the 4 corners can begin to get better by implementing the plans already developed. One of those plans is the connection of Murphy Parkway at South Liberty Road, and the other would be to add turn lanes downtown. Another suggestion from residents would be to look at the option of a roundabout.

What should the City of Powell do to address its dwindling resources?

• Jon C. Bennehoof: Powell’s debt was recently restructured due to the current economic environment. While this helps, there need to be creative approaches to reduce our current debt and partner with neighboring cities and townships for opportunities of collaboration and savings.

• Richard A. Cline: Like most cities, Powell relies primarily on income taxes for its revenue. Last year was the first year that income tax revenue declined from prior year collections. This year, income tax revenue is projected to exceed  2010 revenues. Annual income tax revenue is sufficient to fund annual operation expenses.

However, Powell does not have a dedicated revenue stream to pay for capital improvements. In 2010, council proposed an income tax modification that voters rejected. After listening to feedback from residents about the rejected proposal, the finance committee expects to present council with two capital improvement plans: (1) a smaller tax increase that applies to everyone and is dedicated to capital improvements; and (2) a property tax that will become effective when the current park levy expires. This would not increase anyone’s property taxes. Either proposal requires voter approval.

• Trent Hartanft: Regarding dwindling revenue for capital improvements, I believe all avenues need to be explored such as: project prioritization, project delay/elimination, or a possible levy.

Other than reduced revenues, what is the biggest issue Powell City Council will face in 2010, and how would you address it?

• Jon C. Bennehoof: Planning for continued growth; economic, population and area are challenges that must be addressed with common sense and visionary foresight. Strategic business planning has been my responsibility for the past 21 years. I will work with citizens, neighboring townships, developers, and all other stakeholders to drive that common sense and vision.

• Richard A. Cline: Developing a balanced tax base through selective annexation will be an important issue in 2012. Powell is a bedroom community, which means most of our income tax revenue comes from residents because most of our property is residential. Annexing quality commercial and business property will increase income tax revenues without overly burdensome demands for service. Annexed land stays in Liberty Township, which continues to receive about 95 percent to 97 percent of the property taxes from that land. The balance is transferred to Powell, which must then pay for road maintenance for the property. However, Powell collects income tax from employees and from the businesses whose employees and customers use Powell’s infrastructure. The small property tax and the income tax are sufficient to pay for the services Powell provides to the property, which include police protection and zoning, which, under Ohio law, has more enforcement authority and flexibility than the township.

• Trent Hartanft: Other than reduced revenue I believe the biggest issue that council will face in 2012 will be the residential and business growth in the area that is good for the community, good for the citizens and good for the existing businesses of Powell. I believe I am well suited to address this issue by having a strategic mind set, a common sense approach, and always being open to other solutions or suggestions.

MAYORAL RACES

Shawnee Hills Mayor

Patrick C. Monahan

Address: 44 Buckeye Drive, Delaware

Age: 63

Occupation: Program Manager.

Education: Attended University of Cincinnati and Mt. St. Joseph College.

Qualifications: US Army Infantry leader in Vietnam. Former Executive and Operations VP of the Communications Workers of America 4351. Past member of the Board of Directors of the Community Chest of Cincinnati. Former council member of the Village of Shawnee Hills. Twice elected Mayor of the Village of Shawnee Hills.

In what ways could township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Patrick C. Monahan: We already work very will with Concord Township. Cost savings could be realized in shared with joint legal, engineering and purchasing contracts.

What should the village do to address its dwindling revenues?

• Patrick C. Monahan: I believe as municipality we need the state legislature to stop considering issues like HB 153 where they propose state collection of income taxes. This would devastate a municipality and we use RTIA who does a great and reasonably economical job. We also need state legislature to not pass illogical legislation such as permitting people with carry permits to carry concealed weapons into establishments that serve alcohol. This is a disastrous formula for the police who serve our village.

Sunbury Village Mayor

Tommy Hatfield

Address: 64 Letts Ave. Sunbury, OH 43074

Age: 46

Occupation: Area Manager, AT&T

Education: BA Marketing, BA Business Administration

Qualifications: A proven track record of 23 years leading teams through planning, execution, and delivery to a successful outcome. Managed large groups, with 200 employees and budgets of $30M yearly. Six years on village council with five years as president of council.

In what ways could Sunbury work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Tommy Hatfield: This is an area ALL villages, townships and counties could do a better job with. There are many areas of duplication and redundancy like the police, fire, emergency services, sewer and road maintenance. We have to be open to new ideas. We need to look for creative and new ideas that could be the best use of tax dollars. We have entered an unprecedented time in our lives and cannot continue to do business as we always have. While on council I have helped Sunbury partner with another village to provide police service and look for ways to share sewer service. I am willing to look for and entertain new ways of doing business, with the mind set of saving money while delivering high quality service to the residents. I will continue to work toward building relationships and working with my peers at the county and state.

What is the biggest issue Sunbury will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Tommy Hatfield: For Sunbury, our greatest challenge for 2012 and beyond will be to delivery necessary services without raising the cost to the residents of our village. In Sunbury we are blessed with a community where people want to live and raise their families. Growth in our area will continue for the unforeseeable future. This growth comes at a cost. As Mayor, I have the responsibility to partner with council, business, community leaders, and other government agencies to embrace this growth while providing the necessary services without burdening the existing residents with the expense associated with this growth. We have to continue to plan for the future while living within our means today. This takes planning, preparation, and hard work, and as Mayor I will invest the time it takes to ensure that our village is prepared. I will also work to keep our small town charm and atmosphere.

What should the village do to address dwindling revenues?

• Tommy Hatfield: We are currently anticipating an $80K reduction in 2012, and $150K in 2013. I will continue to look for ways to drive expenses from our budget. I will work with each of our departments to ensure that we are providing the necessary services at the least possible cost. At the same time we have to continue to look for ways to increase our revenues. We need to look for revenues that make sense for the village and its residents. When elected to council, I was very concerned with village debt. I have worked to aggressively pay debt while expanding services and not raising taxes. As a council person I have worked with my peers to bring our spending in line with our revenues. I have worked to ensure that we maximized our infrastructure improvements by obtaining grants and subsidies from government agencies and business, in excess of $1.5M.

SCHOOL BOARD RACES

Buckeye Valley Board of Education

David Godsil

Occupation: Regional manager, McQuay International

Education: B.S., University of Dayton

Qualifications: 20 years experience in building maintenance and construction industry; 7 years serving on Delaware City Council stretching limited multimillion dollar budgets; president of the Buckeye Valley Foundation; have three children in the district and pay taxes to the district

Tom Kaelber

Address: 391 Ohio 257N

Occupation: Retired teacher

Education: M.A. and B.S., The Ohio State University

Qualifications: Educator for 31 years at Buckeye Valley, Buckeye Valley School Board for 8 years

Joe Roden

Age: 49

Address: 2000 Klondike Road, Delaware, OH 43015

Occupation: Manager of Complex Solutions, Verizon

Education: B.S., Carroll College, Waukesha, Wisc.

Qualifications: Leadership experiences: Buckeye Valley Finance Committee, St. Mary’s Parish Council, St. Mary’s Finance Committee, President of Scioto River Valley Federation, Youth Soccer Board of Directors, coaching youth soccer, baseball, and basketball, and 10 years of teaching religious education classes.

Recognizing the difficulty in stretching revenues to cover existing programs, how can the school district tighten it’s spending without sacrificing quality?

• David Godsil: While consistently understanding the goal is to provide students at Buckeye Valley the best education possible, work with administration and board members to rank core education programs and fund accordingly. Focus on programs and policies that positively impact the most students possible. Review all existing programs for cutting or replacing with more cost effective programs and keeping those programs that are showing positive results and fund accordingly. Work to empower local principals and teachers to take leadership stances to provide productive and efficient programs.

• Tom Kaelber: Effective school boards must engage in focusing on student achievement and providing resources (dollars) for instructional improvement. Our administration, though, has chosen to make cuts that have had major impact on students. We have cut more than 17 teachers. This results in overcrowded classrooms and fewer course offerings. Other ideas on the cost containment plan include no high school busing (a hardship for families who live so far from the high school), abandon one elementary (our elementary classrooms are already crowded). Another idea always on our minds — what about eliminating all extracurriculars?

With cutbacks in state funding, the burden is on us all to “share sacrifices.” Our administration has not volunteered any sacrifices! Here’s what we could save: administrators pay their 10 percent contribution to retirement ($119,000); eliminate assistant superintendent position ($150,000), eliminate the administrative position highered under stimulus funds ($150,000).

Residents want students to be the priority.

• Joe Roden: As the government cuts back on the amount of money it provides for public education, we need to be cognizant of every dollar we spend. We need to answer two questions, in this order, when deciding how to spend our money – 1) What is best for the students? and 2) What is best for Buckeye Valley? We need to make sure we are putting the maximum amount of money into areas that directly impact the students. Our current Board has chosen a different path by increasing our administration costs via pay raises, paying for administrators retirement contributions, and hiring additional administrative staff, while cutting back on the number of teachers. This trend has to be reversed, and we must look at how we can reduce administration costs before we look at any further cuts that impact students and their education.

What are your solutions for the growing districts space limitations and facilities problems?

• David Godsil: The school district must provide a safe learning environment for the students in an efficient manner. That being said, it must listen to the taxpayers and parents on how that should be delivered. Personally, I am in favor of maintaining the idea of the local middle elementary schools as it is often the center of that community. With the economy and new students moving into the district slowing, now is the time to look at the current stock of buildings and their usage in the future. With my experience in the building industry, I am uniquely qualified to provide input not only on new construction but also the facilities life cycle cost analysis. Finally, anything that can be done to reduce cost and keep student-teacher ratio low must seriously considered.

• Tom Kaelber:  As a board member, I see the need to respect taxpayers. In January, I voted against placing a dual tax (bond issue and operating levy) on the ballot. Citizens told me they just couldn’t afford that. Now many are waiting to see how the high school construction project turns out before they are willing to entrust additional funds to the board of education. We should have kept active the facilities committee to help ensure that the high school construction project was carried through as planned.

We definitely have a need for new elementary facilities. However, knowing the history of the frequency of successful passage of tax issues in this district, it will probably be several years before we can secure additional funding for new elementary buildings. We must collaborate with the stakeholders —involve them, listen to them, respect them. Then a solution for our facilities will evolve.

• Joe Roden: These are challenging times financially for many families in our district, so we can only ask them for more money when it is absolutely necessary. This might include balancing our student levels across the elementary schools, making use of modular classrooms, and being creative with our flexibility in scheduling.

Fortunately the school board’s projections are that we won’t see a large influx of students in the near future. It is also noteworthy that all five of our schools currently have an “Excellent” rating, which is a large testament to our teachers. Still we need to have a constant eye on our facilities to match growth projections and changes in the teaching environment.

When the time comes to upgrade our schools, we must work closely with the public to find solutions that we can deliver when the schools are built and in the future as they are maintained.

How will you address teacher evaluations and merit pay issues?

• David Godsil: Simply stated, I will support any reasonable plan to tie classroom performance by teachers to pay. I fully understand that there are existing union contracts in place and state laws that impact this effort. The best teachers need to be fully rewarded and the underperforming must either have their results improved or they need to be replaced. That may sound insensitive, but that’s what happens in the private sector. This process makes for a better end product. I will also work with the superintendent and staff to support their teachers in performing their difficult but rewarding jobs. This includes supporting teachers’ positive input and providing a safe and disciplined teaching environment.

• Tom Kaelber: Our evaluation tool was developed by a team of elementary, middle school and high school teachers and administrators. We should use a team approach to evaluate (not just a building principal). The building principal should always be a member of that evaluation team. At the elementary level, that team could consist of other teachers at their grade level. At the middle school and high school level, the team could consist of other teachers in their department. A principal only observes a teacher in the classroom a few times a year. The teachers see their cohorts in action on a daily basis.

And of course, student test scores and student achievement and yearly growth should become an integral “part” of the evaluation tool. In fact, these are the additional factors that would determine merit pay. Many teachers worry that merit pay is too subjective. An “evaluation team” would eliminate subjectivity.

• Joe Roden: My focus in everything we do at Buckeye Valley will be on excellence. To produce excellent students and excellent test scores, it is logical that we need excellent teachers. We are very fortunate to have many excellent teachers in Buckeye Valley that care deeply about their students and the results they produce.

We need to move toward a system where our best teachers are rewarded at a higher rate. There are challenges in this to set up an equitable rating system for the teachers. We will work with the teachers and the state to develop those teacher rating systems.

We can model our salary systems based on models used in corporate America, where employees aren’t just paid based on their tenure or what degree they have earned. They are paid based on the value of their skills and the results they produce.

Big Walnut Board of Education

Lurley Hernandez

Age: 42

Address: 3019 Miller Paul Road, Galena

Occupation: Homemaker, community volunteer and member of the Harlem Township Zoning Commission.

Education: High school diploma. Attended The Ohio State University.

Qualifications: As the daughter of a retired teacher, a former employee and mother of five current students and two graduates, I have a holistic perspective of our school system’s successes and challenges.

Mindy Meyer

Address: 12944 Centerburg Road, Sunbury, OH 43074

Age: 47

Occupation: Mary Kay Sales Director and stay-at-home mom

Education: B.A. from OSU in Organizational Communications

Qualifications: Proven track record of working for the benefit of the students of the Big Walnut district, in-depth knowledge of school finance, fall 2010 levy chairperson.

Andrew Wecker

Occupation: Attorney

Education: Ohio University (B.S., 1989); The Ohio State University College of Law (J.D., 1996)

Qualifications: A local attorney; father of five with four in the Big Walnut schools and one in pre-school; Porter Township resident; levy and bond volunteer.

Recognizing the difficulty in stretching revenues to cover existing programs, how can the school district tighten its spending without sacrificing quality?

• Lurley Hernandez: Our limited resources are best utilized in classrooms where we can see the greatest return on our investment. We can maintain our existing programs and potentially increase spending on students in the classrooms if we can decrease our spending on administration, which should not be too difficult considering that we are currently spending far more on administration that other comparable districts.

• Mindy Meyer: Acknowledging that 80-85 percent of the budget is spent on salaries and benefits then balancing the cost of those items with the quality of those items becomes a main factor in the equation of the balanced budget.

Operating five school buildings, instead of the seven available buildings, also cuts down on the spending even if just the cost of heating and lighting and slight personnel costs.

Working with the state to reduce the unfunded mandates placed upon school districts would also help.

• Andrew Wecker: All the stake holders have to look at trade-offs.  For example, higher pay will be hard to maintain without larger class sizes.  But how do we have larger class sizes if we don’t permit more in the way of summary discipline of students who misbehave?  If we still want smaller class sizes, and the State of Ohio and the community are not willing to revisit discipline policies, we have to have younger, less experienced teachers who are paid less and may be difficult to retain once they gain experience.

A friend once told me it all comes down to cost, quality and quantity — pick two as priorities because you can’t have all three.

What are your solutions for the growing district’s space and facility problems?

• Lurley Hernandez: We can make the most of our resources and minimize waste by considering all of our alternatives. Before any new buildings are planned, we should look at the possibilities of putting Harrison Street Elementary School and Big Walnut Middle School back into service, or adding on to Souders and Big Walnut Elementary schools, as they have the land for expansion.

• Mindy Meyer: We are fortunate in Big Walnut to not have a ‘lack of space’ problem at present. We have two buildings that could be re-opened. This district has been very creative in re-purposing district buildings in the past. Operating several of the currently in-use buildings at near (or over) capacity is the challenge at hand and is something that needs to be watched carefully as student population increases. Keeping an eye on growth in key areas will determine the course of action the district must take in terms of facility usage.

• Andrew Wecker: This is not applicable to Big Walnut.  We have two older buildings that could be re-opened in relatively short order without going through site development and construction.  The challenge will be making do for the short term with running a few buildings near or beyond 100 percent capacity in order to save on some staff and operating costs involved with running seven buildings instead of five.

How will you address teacher evaluation and merit pay issues?

• Lurley Hernandez: Our students deserve the best education we can offer, and we have an obligation to provide them with the best teachers available. Our principals, using student progress, test scores and other criteria, are the best ways to evaluate teacher performance. Like private sector employees, teachers’ pay should be based on performance, not tenure. As a homeowner and taxpayer in this district for the last 10 years, I support Senate Bill 5 and hope it will be upheld in the current election.

• Mindy Meyer: Although some of this may be determined by the outcome of Issue 2 on Nov. 8 it is important to start taking steps in this direction. A combination of evaluations would seem the most reliable — student progress, peer review, parent input, some degree of student input at the high school level, and administrative review. Test scores provide only a snapshot of a student’s abilities. The same is true for teachers. It is important to gather ideas about such a system from all interested parties in order to come up with one that will address many aspects.

Private sector employees are evaluated and pay is often determined by these evaluations. Students have been evaluated and graded for many years. Although the manner in which these evaluations and pay issues may not yet be evident, I believe we can find an acceptable way to do this if we work together.

• Andrew Wecker: Answering this depends on knowing the outcome of the referendum on SB 5 this November, which in turn will influence the outcome of the scheduled negotiation of the staff collective bargaining agreements in the spring of 2012.  That said, I think it is important to consider peer review along with student baselines and progress, as well as the views of administrators and parents.  We grade, track and sort students every day on their progress. We should be able to find a valid way to evaluate teachers.

Delaware City School Board

Matthew A. Weller

Address: 328 Sylvan Drive, Delaware, OH 43015

Occupation: Attorney

Education: BA Miami University, JD Ohio State University

Qualifications: Currently hold this office; parent of three children in the district.

Recognizing the difficulty in stretching revenues to cover existing programs, how can the school district tighten its spending without sacrificing quality?

• Matthew A. Weller: The current economic climate has forced our district to take a hard look at how we spend every taxpayer dollar so we can run the operations as efficiently as possible, while at the same time improving the quality education that we provide our students. Salaries and benefits consume most of the district budget and we have worked hard to control these costs. Over the past year, the district has made more than $2.4 million in cuts through union pay freezes, lower than projected insurance premium renewals, and the elimination of mid-day kindergarten runs, to name just a few. The district and its employees have made the commitment to run the business of the district without excess costs, which is reflected in the district having one of the lowest cost-per-pupil averages in Central Ohio.

Despite these cuts, the district achieved its highest ranking ever — excellent with distinction.

What are your solutions for the growing district’s space and facility problems?

• Matthew A. Weller: The district has already convened a facilities committee, which has made several recommendations to the board for meeting our growing enrollment, which continues to increase on a monthly basis at this time. Most, if not all, of our facilities, are at or beyond their designed student capacity and additional space must be built in the near future. However, the operating levy on the ballot in November clearly takes precedence over our facility needs at the moment. Temporary measures have already been implemented to address our growing pains, including the use of modular classrooms and the conversion of art, music and former nonclassroom spaces to regular classrooms. However, the district cannot absorb the continuous stream of new students without additional facilities.

How will you address teacher evaluation and merit pay issues?

• Matthew A. Weller: More stringent teacher evaluations and merit pay issues will be required of the district at some point in the future, regardless of the success or failure of Senate Bill 5, and thus the district should be prepared to help shape how those rules are developed. Objective criteria must be utilized in this process and all politics must be eliminated in order to have a level playing field for those being evaluated.

Olentangy School Board

Stacy Dunbar

Address: 9298 Auburn Court, Powell, OH 43065

Occupation: I am a change leader and corporate trainer for a Fortune 500 company.

Education: MEd – University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and BA in Business and Communications – Point Loma University.

Qualifications: Current Olentangy School Board member, long history of school involvement, started the district’s communications committee, professional change manager, team builder.

Martin Johnson

Occupation: Senior Services Manager (Siemens)

Education: Masters Business Administration (Indiana University), B.S. Mechanical Engineering (Indiana Institute of Technology)

Qualifications: 15+ years professional experience leading strategic programs at global corporations, Member of Olentangy school’s Cost Savings and Efficiency and School Funding Action committees, Project Leader for Olentangy school’s Project 2020 initiative

Kevin G. O’Brien

Address: 3366 Westbrook Place, Lewis Center, OH 43035

Age: 43

Occupation: VP and CFO, Nationwide Retirement Plans

Education: Westfield State College

Qualifications: With more than 20 years experience in the financial services industry, I have the appropriate professional experience and approach to continue to make a meaningful contribution to the board as we face the challenge of balancing educational excellence with fiscal responsibility.

Adam J. White

Occupation: Accounts Receivable

Education: B.A. Psychology, M.B.A.

Qualifications: I am passionate about America and recognize the goal for its survival is a strong American education which provides children with the virtues innate to our country’s founding.

Recognizing the difficulty in stretching revenues to cover existing programs, how can the school district tighten its spending without sacrificing quality?

• Stacy Dunbar: Olentangy has done a great job of both keeping costs low while ensuring strong academics. During my tenure on the school board, I have been involved in working with committees and others in identifying and implementing cost reductions. I know the challenges of doing this while ensuring that the quality of education for our Olentangy students is not sacrificed. Going forward, we must continue to review our financial model. As a board member, I will continue to take a hard look at employee compensation and benefits, review staffing levels and see how we can make optimal use of our buildings. We have an outstanding community and a very involved one that want excellent schools and excellent teaching. I share that.

• Martin Johnson: a. Maintaining educational quality while continuing to seek cost savings has been the core of my volunteer work in the district. Additional improvements can be made in a number of significant areas. First, we must continue with innovative ways of delivering quality education to students while maintaining value to taxpayers. Second, we must further streamline operations by making use of proven technologies and optimizing facilities management. Third, I am committed to continue aligning salaries and benefit plans with a financially sustainable future for the district. I applaud the district employees that are sharing in the sacrifice of these economic times by voluntarily accepting pay freezes and salary concessions. In the next phase of salary and benefit planning, my experience in bringing groups together to achieve critical and often difficult goals will be an important asset to the board as we work together to create sustainable spending models for the future.

• Kevin G. O’Brien: Tightening spending without sacrificing quality is a difficult balancing act, one that the District has been able to manage well through these difficult economic times. The District’s spending per pupil of $9,005 for fiscal year 2011 continues to rank as one of the lowest among its peers in Central Ohio.

However, we can — and must — do better. I believe in addition to being constantly diligent with spending, the district must pursue changes to its expense structure that will lead to a more sustainable financial model for the long-term.

To that end, I’m currently leading the district’s health insurance task force, a group that is charged with exploring more cost effective ways of delivering high quality, market competitive insurance coverage for the district’s 1,812 employees. To date, the task force has already realized savings by reducing the cost of our insurance brokerage services by more than 75 percent or $260,000, annually.

• Adam J. White: Quality of education is not a direct function of spending. However, Olentangy’s spending is unsustainable and should be reduced using a variety of strategies. Entitlement reform will have the greatest impact on Olentangy’s budget, given that salary and benefits comprise 85 percent of Olentangy’s budget. Eliminate the 11 percent extra contribution from taxpayers toward the administrative staff’s retirement and ask employees to make a contribution toward their 100 percent taxpayer supported retirement plans. Modify Olentangy’s employee health insurance deductible from $0 to $1000 and change coinsurance coverage from 100 percent to 80/20. Reduce Olentangy’s 300 sick day accumulation to five days per year (40 hours); thereby, eliminating the large and excessive sick day cash payouts given to employees at retirement and realigning benefits to those of reality in the private sector.

Furthermore, shifting some teaching responsibility back on parents will reduce spending through accelerated learning and the elimination of programs best taught at home.

What are your solutions for the growing district’s space and facilities problems?

• Stacy Dunbar: Olentangy’s growth remains strong and steady. We have been reviewing creative options for accommodating our growth that do not include building new buildings. Olentangy’s 2020 Committee is taking an innovative look at teaching and learning methods — beyond the traditional classroom setting. If a viable solution (or many solutions) are identified then it means that we may not need a fourth high school. The group will get input from multiple people throughout the district to look at alternatives such as online learning, expanding current facilities, sharing or leasing space from existing facilities, etc. I’m thrilled with the work this committee is doing and believe that it will not only give outstanding educational options to our students but result in savings to our community.

• Martin Johnson: This has been a key part of my focus as chair of the district’s Project 2020 initiative. This committee has been designed to look specifically at how we can bring new innovations to district operations by working more collaboratively with other organizations and by bringing technology to deliver education more productively and more effectively. There is no single “silver bullet” for this challenge, but rather a combination of approaches is needed. Changes in class scheduling and building configurations, introduction of more flexible on-line learning options, partnering with other educational institutions for “non-core” courses are among some of the options being reviewed. More traditional options are also being discussed, such as leasing space or expanding the current buildings versus new construction. As a member of the school board, I can help ensure policies are set effectively implement the most effective alternatives that make the most responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

• Kevin G. O’Brien: As one of the fastest growing school districts in Ohio, and currently the 8th largest district in the state, Olentangy Schools continues to be challenged with providing sufficient space to accommodate growth.

While I don’t believe there is a “silver bullet” to address this challenge, I do believe there is a combination of strategies that will allow the district to provide the necessary facilities/space.

The strategies that I believe will be successful will range from traditional approaches like adding incremental space to existing buildings, to more innovative approaches that leverage technology to expand the learning environment beyond the traditional classroom.

To fully explore these potential solutions the district has established a team of experts from the community, called Project 2020, that will examine, analyze and develop a set of recommendations for the board to consider. I look forward to working with that team on developing the appropriate set of solutions.

• Adam J. White: One must pick from two strategies when dealing with population growth: Stop growth or accommodate it. The latter results in higher taxes, overcrowding, and the exhaustion of local resources.

Halting population growth in the district is the only solution for Olentangy. There are different methods for stopping growth. Olentangy employed the method of taxing growth, though unintentionally, by forcing excessive real estate taxes on the community. Olentangy’s enormous tax burden on the community will deter future population growth from those not seeking employment with Olentangy.

However, I find Olentangy’s excessive taxation of the community deplorable and would seek other methods for halting growth.

Preventing the conversion of agricultural land to residential development is another method for halting growth in the district. This method would require active participation by the community to convince the zoning board that high density zoning is not a friend of the school district.

Suggestions are welcomed.

How will you address teacher evaluation and merit pay issues?

• Stacy Dunbar: At Olentangy, we have outstanding teaching professionals and we must continue to give them the support they need in the classroom to educate our students. They want that and so do we. I want for us to look at compensation and staffing levels for all employees and believe we must review student-teacher ratios.

• Martin Johnson: With almost a decade of academic achievement meeting or exceeding an excellent rating, I believe it’s clear that our teachers (and all employee groups for that matter) are performing at very high levels. I’m tremendously proud of this achievement and am committed to ensuring this trend continues. Any changes should align with what we collectively value: Student achievement and meeting the academic needs of every student. I believe that our teachers are innovators and leaders and that we must continue to provide the support they need in the classroom. We must focus on policies that keep our best and brightest here in our district, but also must align compensation and benefit plans with financial sustainability. Collaborative and pro-active steps to bring all compensation policies (salary, merit pay, benefits, etc) more in line with the current realities of our challenged economy are the next critical area to be focused on.

• Kevin G. O’Brien: I believe that a comprehensive teacher evaluation system will be a key component to a successful education system over the long-term. With that said, there is much work to be done before the district can implement such a system by the start of the 2013 school year, as required by current law. To date, the State Board of Education has taken the lead on the development of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) and I expect the district to be an active participant with the state board as it completes its work.

In terms of merit pay, I believe that evaluating and introducing reforms that would reward our best teachers and create differentiation based on successful outcomes in the classroom will be important components of a stronger school system over the long-term. I look forward to further evaluating potential reforms as the district negotiates the next teachers’ contract in 2012.

• Adam J. White: Teacher evaluations and merit pay will be based off the standards set in 2013 by the State of Ohio and the district superintendent. The Olentangy School Board should insure the standards adopted by the Olentangy district are applicable for every teacher evaluation without prejudice to determine those deserving merit pay versus those who should choose a different career. Teacher evaluation and merit pay will provide Olentangy with an opportunity to boost the quality of education through teaching standards and performance while eliminating needless spending associated with automatic pay raises for underperforming teachers and step increases for warm bodies. Evaluation and merit pay could help foster the introduction of young enthusiastic teachers into the district, retain those worthy of teaching our children and dispatch weak links. The current pay system dilutes the need for strong capable teachers by rewarding and retaining every teacher regardless of their performance.

Berlin Township Trustee

Ronald Bullard

Address: 2440 Lackey Old State Road, Delaware

Age: 65

Occupation: Retired manager and small business owner.

Education: Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering.

Qualifications: Trustee since 2007. Record available at Meeting Minutes: berlintwp.us. 25-year zoning and board member and chairmen. Good record of working with residents, employees and township.

Judy K. Shumway

Address: 4324 S. Old State Road, Lewis Center, OH 43035

Age: 67

Occupation: Retired Berlin Township clerk

Education: Columbus Business University and Otterbein College

Qualifications: 27 years in Berlin Twp. government, hands on experience in all aspects of fiscal accounting and reporting, recording and establishing public records of meetings and legal documents, procurement of contracts, applying for infrastructure grants, cemetery operations, and fire department operations.

In what ways could Berlin Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective delivery?

• Ronald Bullard: The example is the working relationship, implemented during my term between Berlin Township Fire Department and County EMS to house the EMS squad in our fire station. The county pays rent which helps the township and reduces the cost of operation for the county. The location improves service for residents.

• Judy K. Shumway: Use working agreements to reduce duplication of services.

How would you replace the estate tax revenue after 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Ronald Bullard: The estate tax has been viewed as a welcome extra source of revenue but not a steady source of revenue that can be used for normal operating budgets. The extras will have to be trimmed from the budget until another source of revenue is defined. The state has taken this revenue away from the local governments but not provided a replacement yet.

• Judy K. Shumway: Loss of estate tax revenue should not significantly affect the township so there would be no need to increase taxes to replace this revenue loss. Responsibility must be taken to carefully plan future projects and monitor day-to-day operations so taxpayer dollars are not wasted.

What is the biggest issue Berlin Township will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Ronald Bullard: The biggest issue is the property tax revenue spending and wise use of the available funds. Communication with residents about this reduced capability is critical.

• Judy K. Shumway: Anticipated reduction of revenues and continued growth of the township will require effective planning and budgeting. Accountability by participation in planning, prioritizing capital projects and budgeting. Monitoring revenues and expenses in order to maintain high service levels for residents without proposing new taxes.

CONCORD TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE

Jason Haney

Age: 39

Address: 7470 Concord Road, Delaware, OH 43015

Occupation: Stay at home father

Education: B.A biological sciences Ohio State University,  M.A. environmental geography, M.A  geographical information sciences   University of Toledo.

Qualifications:  Involved and concerned citizen.  I am a former business owner in the township, and have experience with fiscal budgeting and with demographics.

In what ways could Concord Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Jason Haney: I feel that cooperative and shared bidding for materials needed for the townships, and or municipalities, is an effective way to get the best price for goods and services.  Larger orders usually get a price break.  An example of this is ordering of new vehicles for maintenance crews.  Larger cities order many vehicles, and a small township could get the same price if they were to order the same vehicle.

How would you replace estate tax revenues after 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Jason Haney:  I feel this is an important issue, because I agree with the repeal of the estate tax.  I believe in fiscal responsibility, therefore, the budget will just have to be changed, and spending will have to be cut to adjust for the lowered revenues.  If that means salaries go down due to the lowered budget, then salaries will be cut, mine included.

What is the biggest issue Concord Township will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Jason Haney: I feel one of the biggest issues for Concord township in 2012 will be ramifications from Senate Bill 5, and its effects on the Concord Township Fire Department. At this time I can not say exactly how it will effect them because the vote is Nov 8.  Whichever way the vote goes it will have a large impact on their financial viability, and could cost jobs, and or cuts to services.  I will try to continue the fantastic service the Concord Township residents receive from this fire department, and help them to deal with any problems from the vote.

Genoa Township Trustee

Barbara Lewis

Address: 9230 White Oak Lane, Westerville, OH 43082

Occupation: Political Science Educator and Strategist

Education: B.A., Masters, Ph.D., The Ohio State University

Qualifications: In my four years as trustee, I have improved Genoa’s safety and maintenance services, kept our costs low, preserved our rural-residential character, improved our parks and trails, and upgraded our website and newsletter.

In what ways could Genoa Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Barbara Lewis: Genoa proposes to become the sole primary provider of the township’s EMS services. Under the current, 40-year old system, Delaware County provides EMS services to a portion of the county, including Genoa. Genoa has cross-trained all its firefighters to be EMS technicians, so there is now an unnecessary duplication of EMS services in Genoa. Eliminating this duplication will result in a more efficient allocation of resources and use of taxpayer dollars for all concerned.

How would you replace estate tax revenues after 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Barbara Lewis: Genoa Township has avoided reliance on the estate tax revenue stream through cost cutting. As a result, the loss of this revenue will have no significant impact on Genoa’s finances, and the tax need not be replaced.

What is the biggest issue Genoa Township will face in 2012 and how would you address it?

• Barbara Lewis: Our biggest challenge is to keep our residents’ tax burden low while continuing to provide everyone with excellent safety and maintenance services. We have a successful plan in place and will hold to it in 2012.

Kingston Township Trustee

Karen Fitzpatrick

Address: 9736 Kilbourne Road, Sunbury, OH 43074

Occupation: Broker/Owner Fitzpatrick Insurance Services

Education: Attended OU and Hondros College

Qualifications: Being a 17-year self-employed successful business owner, I am a strong business person that has been able to meet the needs of my clients and to work around budgets to get the job done for the least amount of funding.

In what ways could Kingston Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Karen Fitzpatrick: Kingston Township has a great working relationship with county offices. In my opinion we could utilize the prosecutor’s office more to save the township on outside legal fees that have been way over spent in the past several years. We just need to use these services more.

How would you replace estate tax revenues after 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Karen Fitzpatrick: Since our township doesn’t receive much from estate tax we don’t rely on it. We rely more on gas tax, small government funding and license plate tax along with our share of property tax which is our biggest source of income. I am in support of the repeal to save the farm from being sold to pay the taxes.

What is the biggest issue Kingston Township will face in 2012 and how would you address it?

• Karen Fitzpatrick: I feel the economy is our biggest issue because families are hurting and government wants more taxes and small townships are going to have to do more with less from the government. We will need to be more creative when it comes to maintaining roads and bridges and working within our budget and not putting more burdens on taxpayers.

Liberty Township Fiscal Officer

Peggy Guzzo

Age: 46

Address: 4800 Aberdeen Ave., Liberty Township

Occupation: Student and volunteer.

Education: BA The Ohio State University. Graduate Capital University Law School.

Qualifications: Former Powell Council Member and Liberty Township Trustee. Law concentration in Small Business Entities.

Mark Gerber

Occupation: Fiscal Officer, Liberty Township

Education: Ph.D., M.S., Nuclear Engineering; B.S., Mathematics

Qualifications: Dr. Gerber has brought 30 years of business, financial and computer experience to the fiscal officer position. In his first term, he completely computerized the township’s financial record-keeping. Visit libertytwp.org/fiscaloffice.aspx for a list of the fiscal office accomplishments.

Liberty Township Trustee

Melanie Leneghan

Address: 5288 Stratford Ave., Powell

Age: 46

Occupation: Business professional. Successful 20 year career as an account executive. Small business owner. Managed a $5,000,000.00 territory and my support staff. Had the most profitable territory in the country.

Education: Summa Cum Laude. The Ohio State University College of Business

Qualifications: Business Expertise, Management Expertise, Efficiency Consultant, Time to Serve

In what ways could Liberty Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Melanie Leneghan: Stop wasteful spending immediately by taking our everyday legal issues to the county prosecutor. We continue to use private lawyers for everything. This is wasteful spending. Our taxes have already paid for the county prosecutor.

We should already be exploring the opportunities of additional internal shared services. We will improve efficiency and lower costs by sharing those internal services that make sense to share.

We should partner with neighboring governments on sharing external services. This will increase our purchasing power and improve service levels from vendors. We will save by adopting each other’s best practices. Our leadership has yet to consider this opportunity.

In many cases, we have shared visions with neighboring government entities. We should partner with them to obtain grants to achieve those visions.

We must stop fighting with our neighbors. We must partner with them to protect our community from inappropriate development and to achieve savings and improved efficiency.

How would you replace estate tax revenue after 2013 when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Melanie Leneghan: Historically, outside of an anomaly, estate tax is a small portion of the overall budget. A bigger issue for the township will be any adjustments in property valuations. I would not attempt to replace any lost revenues. Instead I would do the same or more with less. This will be simple if we take advantage of the many savings opportunities, a few of which I mentioned in the previous answer. Additional savings can be realized through improved efficiency and cutting wasteful spending. With qualified leadership, the township will be better off even with funding cuts. For example, qualified leaders would never have agreed to giving step increases to union workers ONLY and freezing salaries of those who were not in the union. That creates problems. Qualified leaders solve problems. Cuts in funding will not be a problem if we have the right leaders in place.

What is the biggest issue Liberty Township will face in 2012 and how would you address it?

• Melanie Leneghan: With qualified, balanced leadership, and leaders who truly care about our community and have time to serve, there shouldn’t be any problems, just opportunities. Opportunities for more bike paths, opportunities for road improvements, opportunities for reaching out to and serving our residents, opportunities to reward all of the employees who serve us, opportunities to maintain and enhance the rural charm of our beautiful community, opportunities to attract corporate partners to locate in the proper locations to generate revenues for schools and our community, opportunities to increase and improve services, opportunities to do the will of the people. I look forward to making those opportunities realities. With unqualified, unbalanced leadership and leaders who all have full time careers to handle and who are business partners with one another, the biggest issues our township will have to face in 2012 is unqualified, unbalanced leadership and cuts in services.

Liberty Township Trustee

Robert J. Mann

Age: 48

Occupation: Attorney and Liberty Township Trustee

Education: B.A. Miami University (Oxford, OH) 1985; The Ohio State University College of Law (With Honors) 1988

Qualifications: Current trustee with demonstrated record of cutting costs and putting people and families first. Served 4 years as legal chair for citizen watchdog group Community Oversight Foundation. Attorney experienced in land use, eminent domain and zoning issues.

In what ways could township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Robert J. Mann: Liberty Township should explore consolidation of services and projects of mutual interest, particularly with Powell. As trustee, I have pushed to create a joint Liberty/Powell task force that would meet quarterly to review such issues. I also helped start the Delaware County Local Government Association, a forum for elected officials and staff in Delaware County to meet and discuss issues of common interest, including fiscal management and services. As trustee, I have also supported and worked with Preservation Parks, as our township park system and bike paths are a jewel of our community. I firmly believe that communication and cooperation with other units of government are a must given the new economic realities created by the state reduction in funding for townships. I have a proven record of reaching out and trying to work cooperatively with neighbors, and I will continue doing so as Trustee.

Townships have relied on estate tax for a significant portion of their budgets. How would you replace estate tax revenues after 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Robert J. Mann: I believe the public is tired of high taxes. When revenues are reduced, such as through loss of the estate tax, the difference should be made up by increasing efficiency and controlling government costs, rather than raising taxes. As trustee, I have an extremely strong record of reducing and controlling the cost of government. I have advocated and supported policies which reduced the cost of employee health insurance, and thereby saved taxpayers more than $500,000 since coming into office. I pushed to have our township office lease renegotiated, resulting in a 10 percent reduction in rent. In addition, while I fully appreciate the hard work and dedication of our township employees, there were no administrative staff raises in 2010 or 2011. I believe that when the private sector is facing economic hardship, government needs to rein in spending, and look for ways to cut costs. I will continue doing so.

What is the biggest issue the township will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Robert J. Mann: The biggest issue the township will face is continued financial pressures from the reduced state budget. I plan to address this issue by continuing the same policies of fiscal restraint and sound financial management as I have in the past 4 years as trustee. I will reach out to neighboring communities, particularly Powell, to explore whether services can be consolidated or shared, and whether there are joint projects of mutual interest that can provide cost sharing and savings. We will continue using technology to increase efficiencies, and will stretch out the useful life of equipment and vehicles as much as practical. We will also work with the business community to bring more business into the township, while maintaining our high standards in keeping Liberty/Powell the beautiful neighborhood community that puts people and families first.

Orange Township Fiscal Officer

Joel M. Spitzer

Address: 1503 Geranium Drive, Lewis Center

Age: 36

Occupation: Orange Township Fiscal Officer/ Small Business Owner/Law School Student

Education: B.A’s in Political Science, History, Criminology and Sociology from The Ohio State University, Master’s of Education from Wright State University, J.D. – University of Dayton School of Law (final year), Ph.D. – University of Dayton School of Education (final year)

Qualifications: Currently serving as Orange Township Fiscal Officer, Former member – Orange Township Board of Zoning Appeals, Certificate of Accountability Awarded for Auditor of State’s Office

Sammy Stamm

Age: 57

Address: 5971 Cheyenne Creek Drive, Lewis Center

Occupation: CPA and CGFM.

Education: BS in Accounting.

Qualifications: 20 plus years experience in government accounting and auditing.

Orange Township Trustee

Scott Galloway

Address: 8792 Sedona Drive, Lewis Center, OH 43035

Age: 43

Occupation: Manager, Merchandise Planning and Analysis

Education: BS in Business Administration, The Ohio State University

Qualifications: I have served on the Olentangy School Board for the past five years. I have demonstrated strong leadership and management skills, prudently reducing expenses while the district continued to grow and deliver excellent results.

Nelson Katz

Occupation: Software Developer

Education: B.S. Computer Science

Qualifications: I am the Current Trustee having experience, knowledge and warm working relationships with every township department. I have a reputation for bringing people together as a team. I have had a leadership role in many of the major projects around the township.

Lisa Knapp

Address: 228 Hideaway Court, Powell, OH 43065

Occupation: Secretary to the Orange Township Zoning Commission and BZA

Education: B.A. in Business, Otterbein College

Qualifications: I have been an Orange Township employee for more than 13 years. I have gained hands-on experience on nearly all aspects of township government. I have lived in the township since 1998, am very active in the community, and I know Orange Township very well.

Chris Masciola

Address: 7836 Kingman Place, Lewis Center, OH 43035

Age: 40

Occupation: Chief Operating Officer, Ohio Gastroenterology Group

Education: BS in Aviation Management and MBA in Finance from The Ohio State University

Qualifications: Current Orange Township Trustee. Member of Orange Township Community Park Board since 2006, Chairperson 2007-08. Extensive experience in leadership positions. Currently managing the operations of a large, successful medical practice.

Bob Ruhlman

Occupation: Accountant

Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Accounting Concentration from Youngstown State University.

Qualifications: A forward looking leader with more than 15 years experience in corporate finance functions such as business strategy, performance reporting, cost reductions and budgeting. I hope to use my work experience to create value for Orange Township.

Deborah Taranto

Occupation: Small Business Owner, Taranto’s Pizzeria

Education: B.A., The Ohio State University

Qualifications: Own and operate a small business, Served on the board of the Ohio Restaurant Association for six years, founded and served on the board of the Orange Township Business Association (OTBA), Responsible for many community events in Orange Township.

Kenneth Yarnell

Address: 18 Highmeadows Circle, Powell, OH 43065

Phone: 740-815-3526

Occupation: Lieutenant for City of Westerville Division of Fire

Education: 1977 Olentangy High School, Ohio Fire Academy

Qualifications For Service: 35 years working in the fire and emergency medical service field for township and city entities. Last 14 in management position.

In what ways could Orange Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Scott Galloway: To reduce the tax burden on our residents, we have to look at every opportunity to partner with other public and/or private institutions to reduce expenses by sharing services. We must look at all areas of township operations.

• Nelson Katz: We are already doing some of that. For instance, we have agreements with a neighboring township to share the maintenance of border roads. We partner with neighboring townships for supervisory training. We partner with the county for delivery of certain EMS services and we have had discussions with the county regarding shared use of their ruman resources. We make cost-effective use of additional contract deputies through an agreement with the Delaware County Sheriff. We have had and will no doubt continue to have discussions with our neighbors on sharing costs and facilities if and when a new community center is built. We have and should continue to look into sharing costs with neighboring townships. As a charter member of the Delaware County Local Government Association, we are constantly looking for ways to work together and collaborate.

• Lisa Knapp: A township must not be an island; its officials should work with surrounding governments — communicating, collaborating and comparing in order to determine what has worked well and what has not. By doing so, we can lower our costs while still providing better service to our residents. I have built a rapport over the years with many leaders in the community, which will lead to better and more effective partnerships.

Orange Township can work with neighboring governments to ensure adequate police protection and other services as well.

Additionally, Orange Township can obtain assistance from Delaware County officials in many areas, including bringing new businesses here, with the result being an increase in jobs and a reduction of the tax burden on our residents.

• Chris Masciola: I think you’ll find many current examples of cooperation between other units of government and Orange Township. We currently utilize the Delaware County Sheriff for law enforcement services and share some EMS services with Delaware County as well. As a member of the park board, we recently met with the park board of Genoa Township to exchange ideas and discuss connectivity between our leisure trails. We have also worked with Delaware County Libraries, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, Highbanks Metro Parks and Alum Creek State Park to coordinate future projects and leisure trails. In the future, we could examine shared services arrangements with adjacent townships as long as it led to shared savings. A great example would be in purchasing healthcare insurance for township employees. Larger pools of employees often have decreased risk and this leads to lower overall premiums, resulting in a potential savings for the taxpayers.

• Bob Ruhlman: I think that a first step is for local governments to consider performing a cost benefit analysis around centralizing administrative functions such as finance, information technology, human resources and administration to create a county shared administrative services organization. Centralizing shared administrative services can create larger economies of scale, improved efficiency, better service and often times reduce operating costs. I feel that local leaders need to govern without emotion and territorial constraints to review the cost benefit analysis of centralization which could create value for taxpayers. In addition, if centralization happens, would local leaders be subject to compensation reductions if these expenses are not in their local budgets? I hope that compensation is not a deciding factor. Local governments are going to be challenged even more in the future to create the same or greater value with less tax dollars. The answer cannot simply be to ask taxpayers for more money.

• Deborah Taranto: By understanding the challenges that other units of government face, the township could align its interests and needs more closely in order to help them reduce the roadblocks to their success as we also work to improve the service delivery throughout the township. Whenever departments of government become silos, roadblocks and hurdles become more prevalent. However, through open communication and a structured focus on doing what’s best for the community as a whole, costs could be reduced as service delivery improves. These changes won’t happen overnight, but dedication and commitment could definitely move us in the right direction. All in all, we’re working to better the quality of life of all of Orange Township’s residents and the only way to do this is to work cohesively and with respect to each unit of government’s particular challenges and by what is allowed by law in the state of Ohio.

• Kenneth Yarnell: Orange Township trustees have for years, through the Fire Division, worked diligently to hold down costs through agreements with surrounding entities including all Delaware County townships, Worthington, Westerville, and the county EMS. These agreements have been in place for years and save money through the sharing of equipment and manpower. Since commissioners feel we are “duplicating” EMS services and double taxing our residents, we need the facts on the table to resolve the financing of our EMS. County commissioners need to realize that with development there is often a need to be able to accept change “for the better.”

How would you replace estate tax revenues after 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Scott Galloway: I would not include any estate tax revenues in budgets we develop to serve our township residents. Estate tax revenues are inherently unreliable and should not be used in the budgeting process. Any revenues received should go to a rainy day fund for future unexpected expenses.

• Nelson Katz:  The estate tax has not played a significant role in our budget in recent years. Therefore, we do not anticipate a major impact on our operations or capital projects when the estate tax is repealed.

• Lisa Knapp: The average annual receipt of estate tax for Orange Township is about $200,000, which is a relatively small amount compared to our annual budget. However, this amount could be made up by cutting wasteful township spending that has been approved over the last four years by trustees, such as the granting of 5 to 7 percent raises for employees during the recent recession, the payment of tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary and unrestrained overtime, the creation of new and unnecessary employment positions given the economic slowdown, exorbitant and uninhibited legal expenditures, excessively priced supplies and equipment, employee bonuses, frequent and costly monetary settlements and much more.

• Chris Masciola: First of all, I am fundamentally opposed to the estate tax because it reduces savings and economic growth, burdens family businesses and farms and it amounts to double taxation. With that said, Orange Township does not rely heavily on the estate tax for a significant portion of its budgets. In 2011, our share of the state’s estate tax revenue amounts to less than one percent of our total revenue budgeted. However, one solution we are currently implementing in order to combat any future loss of tax revenue is to expand our tax base by attracting businesses to the township. To that end, we have recently created the Orange Township Economic Development Advisory Board which will assist in the retention and growth of existing business and the marketing and coordination of development of growth areas within Orange Township.

• Bob Ruhlman: I cannot be 100 percent sure on this response because Orange Township does not publish their financial statements, but through various Freedom of Information Act requests that I have made in the past few years, I do not think that the repeal of the Estate Tax significantly impacts Orange Township I am confident that Orange Township can operate each fiscal year without reliance on Estate Tax revenues.

• Deborah Taranto: Historically, Orange Township has not had to rely upon the estate tax for its budget. As the economy has presented greater challenges in recent years, the portion of the funds the township receives from the estate tax has been appreciated, and earmarked for infrastructure, but we have had the luxury of not having to rely upon the estate tax as our safety net. With responsible and focused attention on future budgeting efforts, the township trustees will continue to establish appropriate funding levels based on the monies we receive from existing property taxes, etc. One can never predetermine what the estate tax will provide from one year to the next, and responsible trustees would never rely solely upon it to build a budget for Orange Township.

• Kenneth Yarnell: Governor Kasich promised to balance the state budget without the state raising taxes. His budget balancing methods have, and will continue to, affect all of us for an unknown length of time ahead. Ironically, he failed to mention that other government entities may have to ask their constituents for money to replace what the state withheld to balance his budget with.

One of my candidacy quotes is “We have been driving a “Cadillac” for years. It is time to think “economy.” We must question how every tax dollar is used. We must work to attract more commercial business along U.S. 23. Citizens have been speaking for a long time that they can’t take much more. We can operate in “economy mode.”

What is the biggest issue Orange Township will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Scott Galloway: The most pressing need of the township is to work to maintain the services the community demands. To accomplish this we will prioritize during our budgeting process to deliver needed services while reducing the tax burden on our homeowners.

• Nelson Katz: Continuing the level of service we receive from our fire and police services. The reserves for the fire services are on a rapid decline that could ultimately result in a reduction of service. I would first look for any cuts that could be made, but ultimately, I would be willing to put the issue before the voters. With our police services, we will soon be spending close to $500,000 a year from our general fund to pay for what used to be taken from a police levy. When we attempted to revive that levy, it failed by a small margin because it was misunderstood and had no voice of its own. With all the other major capital projects earmarked and coming from the general fund, that is unsustainable and again, I would be willing to take the issue to the voters.

• Lisa Knapp: Overall fiscal stability and attempting to rectify poor past township practices. In order to be able to claim that they lowered taxes while in office, township officials chose in 2009 to pursue a fire levy that was clearly inadequate for our needs then. As a result, we are now using up our carryover balances to pay annual fire service — either a levy that is 40 percent greater than the current levy will be required, or substantial cuts will need to be made.

I will conduct a careful assessment of each area of expenditures to determine whether they are actually necessary, regardless of how long the township has spent money in that manner. I would implement a consistent standard for the prior approval and documentation of overtime, and reduce payroll costs when possible during slow times.

• Chris Masciola: As the political climate changes in Washington D.C. and in the Ohio statehouse, local government entities will see their revenues decline as a result of decreasing or eliminating sources of funding. In addition, lower property tax values will also reduce the tax revenues received by the township. It is important that the Orange Township administration anticipate those changes and communicate effectively with the residents about their potential impact. It will also be important to have an open dialog with the community to ensure that the changes that are made have the least impact on the residents and that any sacrifices are shared.

• Bob Ruhlman: The biggest issue in Orange Twp in 2012 is the pending tax increase to fund increased spending in the Orange Township Fire Department. On an annual basis, Orange Township’s Fire Department spends several hundred thousand dollars more in operating costs than a comparable fire department such as Liberty Township. The Orange Township taxpayers need insist on their trustees to be committed to reducing fire department operating costs and not seek a tax increase. The answer cannot simply be to ask taxpayers for more money.

• Deborah Taranto: Orange Township has an aging infrastructure. Many of the roads, intersections and streets need repairs as well as an expansion of safety options, like traffic lights. These repairs could span millions of dollars over the next 25 years, but by being aware of these challenges and establishing an account now, we can address these expenditures as they arise. Also, one of the needs the township faces is our police presence. The significant growth we have witnessed over the past 10 years has presented new challenges for our current police force. In order to ensure future growth and continue the high level of protection we have, I feel we must expand our police force. By working within the current budget and without passing a tax levy, I would like to see an additional deputy employed. Working closely with the other trustees, I foresee the possibility of financing such an action.

• Kenneth Yarnell: The biggest issue that every last one of us faces daily is if we are getting a paycheck tomorrow and how do we divide it up. Next year will be a huge year for the entire country. I have already heard individuals say that they cannot afford it here much longer. Schools will probably be back again and a fire department tax levy will be up for renewal. My personal feeling on township finances is that I want administrators, supervisors and employees to prove their worth. A few years ago pay raises, benefits, and overtime seemed to be handed out like candy for a few. Departments must be able to defend every purchase. Our tax dollars must be used wisely where they will most benefit township residents and our guests.

Ostrander Village Council

Gwen Staynor

Address: 205 W. North Street, Ostrander, OH 43061

Occupation: Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, Educational Aide for Buckeye Valley Schools

Education: Graduate of Buckeye Valley High School

Qualifications: Former Mayor and member of Village Council for Ostrander.

Tracy Stojkov

Address: 210 Three Chimneys, Ostrander, OH 43061

Age: 40

Occupation: Cosmetologist

Qualifications: Resident of the Village of Ostrander.

Robert Taylor

Address: 381 Long Trail Ostrander, OH 43061

Occupation: Civil Engineer

Education: Ohio University – B.S. in Civil Engineering 1995

Qualifications: Registered Professional Engineer, Ohio; current member of Ostrander Village Council; current member of Ostrander Planning and Zoning Committee.

In what ways could the Village of Ostrander work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Gwen Staynor: I believe we could share resources. Possibly pay the township to plow snow in the winter. By sharing resources we could help each other to help keep costs down in this economy.

• Tracy Stojkov: The residents of Ostrander can band together to use only one garbage collection company, and to establish curbside recycling. The result should be savings and more residents recycling. Incorporating natural gas service into the village would also result in savings for our residents.

• Robert Taylor: In order to keep costs down, Ostrander routinely partners with Scioto Township and Delaware County to provide services to the residents rather than contracting out certain tasks. Ostrander also has a volunteer police department as a matter of public safety to the residents. These partnerships are important to provide quality services at lower costs to the residents.

What is the biggest issue the village will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• Gwen Staynor: I believe the biggest issue is dwindling finances. We are getting a smaller share from state government. We all need to do what is necessary to cut costs.

• Tracy Stojkov: Currently our village is not facing any major issues. We are, however, working on setting up a community watch.

• Robert Taylor: Growth and lower tax revenue are two main issues facing Ostrander in the coming years. It is extremely important to plan for the growth and try to control where it takes place as to ensure mutual benefits to the Village as well as the Developer. Lower tax revenues are best mitigated by public-public and public-private partnerships to ensure continued service at lower cost to the residents.

What should the village do to address its dwindling revenues?

• Gwen Staynor: I don’t believe we should add an income tax. People are all having a hard time paying their bills. I think local government should try its best to work with what they have and not add an additional burden on taxpayers.

• Tracy Stojkov: I am more than ready to assist in making sure our spending is done properly, and in ways that benefit the percentage of our residents.

• Robert Taylor: Ostrander has done a great job in the last several years utilizing grants leveraged with Village dollars to repair the streets and sidewalks in the Village. This was achieved by careful planning of street projects in a timely manner. At the same time, Ostrander has managed to operate in the black. I plan to continue this strategy as well as utilizing some of the partnerships mentioned above.

Oxford Township Trustee

James H. Hatten

Address: 6201 Shoemaker Rd., Ashley.

Age: 68

Occupation: Township Trustee.

Education: Willis High School Graduate. US Navy Electrician. 20 year Ashley volunteer fireman.

Qualifications: Captain of Fire Department. Team header at PPG. One term as Oxford Township Trustee.

Steve Lewis

Age: 40

Address: 2855 Whipple Road, Delaware

Occupation: Information Technology Director for Delaware County.

Education: Delaware Hayes High School, Marion Technical College.

Qualifications: 20 years technology experience, 20 years supporting and working with local officials, fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement, 15 years Government experience managing a $750,000.00 budget, Nationally recognized for innovative and cost saving initiatives.

In what ways could Oxford Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Steve Lewis: As the Information Technology Director for Delaware County, I have had the ability to work with many of the government agencies within the county, and the state. Due to these relationships, I have implemented many collaborative efforts between agencies to reduce and in some cases eliminate costs. Several years ago I developed a program to provide Internet access, email, and a website to all townships at no cost to the township. Today I am working with both the private sector and government agencies to save us, the taxpayers of Delaware County, over $4000 per month by developing a more efficient means of providing services. Bringing this type of vision to Oxford Township is my goal as a trustee.

How would you replace estate tax revenues after 2013, when the state tax will be repealed?

• James H. Hatten: Estate taxes are not a significant source of income for our township. We do not budget estate taxes until they are received, then will amend budget.

• Steve Lewis: The revenue Oxford Township has received from the estate tax has amounted to approximately two percent of the township budget over the past four years. Although this is not a significant portion of our budget, it is a reduction. As we continue to experience reductions in revenue, I think it is important to implement cost saving initiatives to reduce expenditures, and not continue to look to the taxpayers to fund the deficit. Revenue reductions are not going away and we need to be prepared to make tough and educated decisions that will not require asking the taxpayers for more. If elected, I will strive for the most efficient means of accountability.

What is the biggest issue village will face in 2012, and how would you address it?

• James H. Hatten: The issue for Oxford Township in 2012 will be maintaining safe roads through all seasons. We will continue to address minor issues as they appear. Continue our chip and seal program and upgrade equipment as funds allow.

• Steve Lewis: There’s no question local government funding is going to diminish, and it is a real concern for 2012, and beyond. How we deal with this issue is critical. It will require innovative ideas, collaborative efforts, and forward thinking. This is not always easy, and it requires experience in doing just that. My goal is not only to address these shortfalls, but to use technology as one of my tools to enhance services as well. As an example, my first recommendation will be to provide transparency. Such as providing information on the Oxford Township website including who your elected township officials are and how to reach them, as well as meeting minutes. This can be done at no additional cost to the township and I feel it is important information to the residents at a time when we all need to be fiscally responsible.

Radnor Township Trustee

Mike Watkins

Address: 3866 Ohio 203, Radnor.

Occupation: Farmer.

Education: BA The Ohio State University.

Qualifications: 22 years of experience being a trustee.

How would you replace estate tax revenue in 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Mike Watkins: Currently there is no way to replace the revenue that will be lost when the estate tax is repealed, unless a majority of taxpayers in the township approves additional millage for the levy.

What is the biggest issue Radnor Township will face in 2012 and how will you address it?

• Mike Watkins: The major challenge for townships will be to provide the current level of service in the face of dwindling budgets. Citizens want the cemeteries to be mowed, roads paved and efficient snow removal. It is difficult for residents to accept a reduced level of service when they have become accustomed to a higher standard.

Scioto Township Trustee

Thomas R. Brown

Address: 3002 Russell Road, Ostrander, OH 43061

Age: 54

Qualifications: I am a small business owner who also has eight years of Scioto Township public service experience. I have been appointed and elected township trustee and have been the Scioto Township Zoning Inspector for the last five years.

In what ways could Scioto Township work more cooperatively with other units of government to hold down costs and achieve more effective service delivery?

• Thomas R. Brown: Continued purchasing through the State and Delaware County Engineer’s bid programs using the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office for legal saves money, improves communications and builds relationships with other units of government. I suggest investigating options for inter-government cooperative purchasing of everything from township employee health insurance to office supplies. I also think the Village of Ostrander and the township could benefit from sharing acquisition and maintenance costs of equipment we both could use.

I also think the citizens should know Scioto Township does deliver many of its services efficiently starting with a volunteer fire department and by the elected officials personal efforts to plow snow, assist at burials, provide access to township facilities, and just about anything else that comes up.

How would you replace estate tax revenue in 2013, when the estate tax will be repealed?

• Thomas R. Brown: I am not aware of the portion of the budget estate tax revenue represents but feel it would be a number that is unpredictable and not to be relied on in revenue projections when preparing a responsible budget. It is “general” revenue and unencumbered as to a specific expenditure. These funds are for community services, salaries, park, zoning and cemeteries and any reduction in these revenues is hard to compensate for because these expenses are more like static overhead, not elective purchasing of goods and services. My answer is the township certainly needs to retain as much of the existing revenues as possible, but shouldn’t “rely” on an inconsistent source like the estate tax.

What is the biggest issue Scioto Township will face in 2012 and how will you address it?

• Thomas R. Brown: The biggest issue for Scioto Township in 2012 will be maintaining the quantity and quality of services with flat or declining revenue. Fire protection, roads, cemeteries, park, and all other services must be evaluated and managed to maintain the highest levels of service within our budget.

LWV Delaware County
Supports Local Levies

At its August 31 meeting, the LWV Delaware County board voted to support three local levies on the November 8 ballot:  the Delaware City Schools operations levy of 8.3 additional mills for five years; the Buckeye Valley Schools levy of 0.5 percent additional income tax (continuing); and the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services levy renewal of 1 mill for five years.

The board, acting on the recommendation of the education committee, was cognizant of the loss of state funding schools and other human service agencies are facing and also confident that significant efforts are being made to control costs.  League’s positions support adequate funding to maintain a high quality of service.  Please be aware that advocacy of League’s positions is never a part of a voter information meeting.

LWV Ohio Supports Repeal of HB 194, Election Reform

Big news—LWV Ohio has supported the referendum on HB 194,
which allows local Leagues to participate in the petition drive to collect
231,000 signatures by Sept. 29 and keep the law from going into effect this
fall.  If the petition drive is successful, the referendum will be on the ballot in November 2012 and will not affect the administration of the 2012 presidential election.

Why did the League act to support repeal?  Because the League’s core values are to
protect the right of all citizens to vote, to encourage all citizens to vote, and to facilitate citizens’ participation in government decision-making.  The League testified regarding its concerns with HB 194, and also noted support for some of the administrative proposals in the bill.  On the whole, however, the provisions that are likely to disenfranchise voters or result in long lines on election day outweighed the positive changes in the bill.

Key objections are to shortening early voting from five weeks to three and eliminating most weekend hours; the elimination of the requirement that poll workers direct voters to the correct precinct; and prohibiting boards of elections from mailing absentee voter forms to voters or paying the return postage on such forms.  For more detailed information, please go to www.lwvohio.org.

August 26 marks the 91st anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment that granted women the right to vote. 

LWV Delaware County will hold a reception to celebrate this event on Thursday evening, August 25 at Austin Manor, 95 Elizabeth St., Delaware, beginning at 7:00 PM. 

Our featured speaker will be Lynn Cook of Global Village, on “Empowering Women in Developing Countries through Fair Trade Practices.”  We’ll also hear from Leslie Mass, author of Back to Pakistan, on returning after serving there in the Peace Corps in the early ’60′s.  One of League’s goals is promoting global democracy and building women’s leadership skills.

An RSVP is appreciated:  Please call Diane Badertscher at 740-363-7162, or reply to lwvdelawarecountyohio@gmail.com. 

]]> http://www.lwvdelawarecountyohio.com/?feed=rss2&p=509 4802 http://www.lwvdelawarecountyohio.com/?p=498 http://www.lwvdelawarecountyohio.com/?p=498#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:54:30 +0000 admin http://www.lwvdelawarecountyohio.com/?p=498

Funding Public Education in Delaware County
THE SHRINKING POCKETBOOK:
Does the math add up?
Why is the Education Pocketbook Shrinking?
Given the current economic conditions, federal and state expenditures for education
may not be sustainable at present levels.
Stimulus funds from the federal government were a one-time supplement, provided
to stimulate the economy, and will not be continued.
Ohio’s governor is committed to returning the state to fiscal stability by balancing
the state budget while preserving the income tax cut. The proposed state budget
was designed to allocate the limited resources available.
Increasing amounts of state funds for public education are being used to support
student attendance at public charter schools and at non-public schools through
scholarship programs.
Voters are increasingly reluctant to support ballot issues that would increase local
property taxes in this economy, especially after multiple court rulings that Ohio’s
system of school funding does not meet constitutional requirements.
What impact will the proposed state budget have on local school system funding?1
Foundation funding from the state is projected to decrease for three of the school
districts in Delaware County.
Reimbursement for loss of revenue due to the elimination of the tangible personal
property tax will be decreased or eliminated. The reduction of assessment rates for
public utility property will be accelerated, yielding less tax revenue.
School systems will pay less of the cost of employees’ benefit packages.
The level of school transportation funding will be decreased for FY 12 with a small
increase in FY 13
Funding for Gifted Education programs will be included in school district
foundation aid instead of being a separate line item.
New provisions on teacher salaries will take precedence over collective bargaining
agreements entered into on or after the effective date of enactment.
The number of available Educational Choice Scholarships (vouchers) will be
increased and the criteria for eligibility will be expanded. The cost of these
additional scholarships will be deducted from each district’s state aid.
Most of the existing elements of the Evidence-Based Model for school funding, on
which districts based their current long-range planning efforts, will be repealed and
replaced with a temporary formula until such time as the legislature enacts a
revised funding model.
1 Derived from analysis by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission and the League of Women Voters of Ohio
The League of Women Voters of Delaware County Public Forum
Thursday, April 14, 2011

To view the proposed 2011 budget for the LWV of Delaware County, click this link:

2011 Proposed Budget