Voters in Newbury Township will be able to choose two trustees out of six candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Voters in Newbury Township will be able to choose two trustees out of six candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Incumbent Trustee Bill Skomrock, Jr. is seeking re-election, but Trustee Jan Blair has decided not to run for another term.
Bill Skomrock
Skomrock, 63, of Bass Lake Road, is director of safety, security and compliance for DisTech, a Newbury-based trucking company. He has spent 40 years in the transportation industry and is a 1972 graduate of Newbury High School. He has also studied at Kent State University.
Skomrock has served 16 years as a township trustee and was a volunteer with the Newbury Fire Department.
He listed his 40-plus years in business management and his extensive knowledge of regulations and government mandates as unique skills that allow him to find common-sense solutions to issues.
He listed his biggest challenges as trustee as maintaining township financial stability while providing exceptional services and the erosion of state funding creating ongoing major financial hurdles.
“To meet my high standards, I will continue to promote fiscally conservative policies that ensure the maximum return on every expenditure,” Skomrock said. “(I will continue to) seek outside funding sources and implement new programs such as the fire department soft billing program, which increased fire department revenue without any new taxes.”
He listed his three main goals as continuing to address health, safety and security issues in the township; supporting and working with safety forces, especially the fire department and the sheriff’s office; and keeping township roads in pristine condition.
He said his greatest accomplishment as trustee has been his role in securing almost a million dollars in state funds, local road project capitalization, expansion of non-taxpayer fire department funding, developing a plan that grows the local economy and adds jobs while protecting individual rights, improving recreational facilities such as Oberland Park, and helping in the development of the Newbury Veterans Park.
Richard Endres
Endres, 62, of Iron Tree Drive, is an information technology project manager for Progressive Insurance. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Cleveland State University with a minor in accounting.
Endres said he is running for trustee because his background as an elected official, volunteer in the community and 40 years of business experience have given him skills that will be useful as trustee.
“I was a member of the Newbury (Schools) Board of Education for eight years and I served on the committee to provide recommendations to the school board on spending priorities,” Endres said.
In addition, his membership in Newbury Kiwanis has given him many volunteer opportunities in the community and his leadership skills as coach for several sports have given him the skills necessary to serve as trustee.
The township’s biggest challenge is being able to do more with less, and his highest priority as trustee will be to spend taxpayer dollars on the health, safety and general welfare of the township.
Endres said he would work to re-establish the township’s financial committee, improve communication with township residents, businesses and staff. He said he hopes to use social media to improve communication.
In addition, he would like trustees to sponsor at least two community events and will hold monthly “trustee hours” for residents to share their concerns and ideas.
As a former school board member, Endres is proud of the fact his board balanced the budget for the eight years he was in office, the district received “excellent ratings” from the State of Ohio, he was able to be part of a “win-win” approach when negotiating with the teacher’s union and saw enrollment increase during his tenure.
Roger Louis Mezak
Mezak, 69, of Bell Road, is a retired high school math teacher and owner of Mezak Contracting, Inc. He is a 1966 graduate of Newbury High School and a 1970 graduate of Baldwin Wallace College with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration (accounting).
Mezak said since he is retired, he will have a “hands-on” approach to lead the township as trustee with a “new, fresh perspective.”
“I am a 56-year resident of Newbury (third generation),” Mezak said. “I have 44 years of volunteering for several local groups … rec board, park board, music boosters, land use committee and Kiwanis Club. While participating with these groups, I have had the opportunity to work with the trustees and school board on various projects.”
Mezak listed maintaining and improving personal and public property values, investigating the feasibility to improve the use of existing or new community facilities, improving dialogue with residents, improving the township website, and open forums and newsletters as major challenges facing the township.
His goals for the township government include being more open and transparent with residents and being more financially accountable.
Michael S. Reardon
Reardon, 48, of Charlton Lane, works in insurance and finance for AAA. He has a degree from Kent State University.
“I am running for Newbury Township trustee because I can no longer sit back and watch our elected officials continue to deliberately ignore their responsibilities to our community,” Reardon said. “They been hoarding money for years with no foreseeable projects to be done.”
Reardon said 20 years of experience working with budgets and data analysis is a skill he will bring as trustee.
His goals include increasing business revenue by bringing more business into the township. He believes establishing a chamber of commerce will help achieve that goal. He also wants to fix the budget that he said is “off by over 400 percent year after year.”
“I would set up a plan to repave Newbury’s roads on a 10-year rotation,” Reardon said. “I would have this schedule posted on our website so anyone in the community could see when their road was due to be repaved.”
Jim Stefancin
Stefancin, 57, of Music Street works for the City of Solon and is a graduate of West Geauga High School, with training as a carpenter’s apprentice.
Stefancin said he wants to help the community by serving as trustee.
“Being married for 24 years, a father of three and coming from a family of nine, I know the value of a dollar and what really is important in life,” he said. “I’ve been employed by the City of Solon for over 21 years in the wastewater treatment plant. Being there has taught me to be a good public servant.”
Stefancin said the greatest challenge to local governments is the reduction of state revenue.
“So, we must work together as trustees, park board, fire department and road department to meet the issues before us,” he said.
His top three goals are to maintain continuity within the departments, review existing procedures to improve efficiency and to insure the township gets what it pays for.
He listed his greatest achievement as achieving his State of Ohio Wastewater Class 3 License and maintaining it with continuing education in the field.
Greg Tropf
Tropf, 52, of Fairgate Boulevard, is a construction manager for Ronyak Brothers and is a graduate of West Geauga High School.
“I believe Newbury Township is being neglected,” Tropf said. “Tax dollars are being hoarded and township responsibilities are not being met. As a 14-year Newbury resident that has been attending township and county meetings for three years regularly, I am frustrated by the lack of vision and direction of Newbury.”
He said that lack of growth is the biggest challenge facing the community.
“Newbury has lost a variety of businesses and not welcomed or encouraged growth,” he said. “Additional concerning is the reduction in state funding. Both issues can be addressed by working collectively to reform outdated zoning, and rebuild county and state relationships to move Newbury forward.”
He said his goals as trustee are to stop hoarding tax dollars; repair roads; update equipment; provide cemetery maintenance; review outstanding park issues; restore a sense of community; merging town hall offices with the service department to provide a central business complex for township business; update the zoning resolution; and to attract new businesses.
