ELECTION COVERAGE: Candidates Respond

October 30, 2019 by Submitted

Keeping Chester Great

Campaigning is sweet and sour. I love talking to the residents of Chesterland who are independent thinkers and pretty darned smart. I don’t like campaigning and dealing with all the partisan goofiness. I don’t like the personal attacks from those who have never spent time with me and don’t know me.

There is an old saying, “never wrestle a pig, you both get dirty and the pig likes it.” I won’t get into the mud with those who make personal attacks, but I will say this, there are many inaccuracies in my opponent’s recent campaign ad.

My record stands on its own and I have tried to highlight those things I think are important to the community in my campaign literature. I have always trusted Chesterland voters and I will rest easy with that thought. You know me. I have a low tolerance for waste and bureaucratic mismanagement. In my experience, the people in Chesterland appreciate someone who is willing to step up and do the right thing even when it’s difficult.

Partisanship has no place in a trustee race. Managing the township is a fiscal responsibility: maintaining roads and providing township services. It requires maturity, experience, good judgement, sound money management skills, good people management skills and integrity.

I have a proven track record of delivering on those things. I did that for decades in business and I brought those skills to the county when I served as a Geauga County Commissioner. We reduced spending, ended wasteful programs, paid off the debt, made critical investments and delivered quality county services. I was responsible for budget oversight of all county departments and agencies. Commissioner Tim Lennon recently recognized me for leading the effort to create a waste management site for the county.

During my tenure as commissioner, my peers, other officials and county staffers (both Republican and Democrat) said positive things about their experiences working with me.

Thank you, Chesterland! The majority of you voted for me in past elections. Now I am asking one more time for your vote. I am running to keep Chester a great place to live and I will work full-time to do that.

The township is at a crossroads and in transition. Younger people are moving in to replace those who are aging and moving out. Some mature individuals are going through life changes and continue to reside here. We need trustees that have the skills to manage township operations through these changes.

We need to be sensitive to both the new and old value systems. Older citizens on fixed incomes find it harder as taxes rise. Younger residents have families and are stretched thin. And, we want to see Chester adapt and improve.

My skill set is what Chester needs in these times. I ask for your vote Nov. 5.

Walter “Skip” Claypool
Candidate, Chester Township Trustee 

Trustee Irene McMullen Responds

As a Munson Township Trustee, I embrace feedback and conversation with all Munson citizens. I was disappointed to see that a resident recently submitted a bizarre, misinformed letter. Sadly, this resident never spoke to me or Town Hall about his fears. I encourage any and every citizen to come visit a public meeting at Town Hall, discuss their hopes and concerns, and join us in serving the Munson community.

If that doesn’t work for your schedule and you still want to chat about local government, feel free to call me, any time — 440-286-9255.

I invite every citizen of Munson to visit a trustees meeting and learn about the projects that are making our community a safe, welcoming place for all. We’d love to talk to you about some of our recent achievements, including:

• new trail at Scenic River Retreat, funded by Natureworks and the Foundation for Geauga Parks
• raingarden at Munson Township Park, funded by Master Gardeners and William Bingham Foundation
• new Road Department truck, to be delivered just in time for plowing
• new storage cabinetry in the Road Department, paid for with funds from scrap metal collected on Dumpster Days
• budgets approved by Geauga County Budget Commission
• Munson Fire Department recent award from University Hospital for consistent, quick application of life-saving techniques
• installation of new LED street lighting, with an anticipated payback of seven years.

Trustees meetings happen every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. All residents are welcome, and sometimes we even have cookies.

I look forward to welcoming each of you to a seat at the Munson Town Hall table, especially those of you who want to be more involved in making our government great.

Ever Onward.

Irene McMullen
Munson Township

Champion for Middlefield Taxpayers

It’s true, I’m motivated to be a champion for Middlefield residents. For many in our community, the mayor’s $60 stated increase in sewer and water rates can be a real hardship. If you’re working and making good money, a $60 sewer and water increase probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you’re a single mom or a senior on social security, it can make your finances seem uncertain and the future pretty scary.

Unless you’ve been in the position where everything is going up except your income, it’s easy to be insensitive about raising rates. That’s why I voted against the last two sewer and water rate increases in Middlefield Village.

Sewer and water rates have been increased at triple the rate of inflation and there is another rate increase coming right after the election. That’s unfair to residents at a time when the village is on track to collect one million dollars more revenue on top of the sewer and water increases.

It’s additionally unfair because the village allows developers to pay just half the sewer tap-in fee than an individual homeowner has to pay on the exact same home. As mayor, I’ll hold the line against increases especially since residents are paying two-thirds of all the costs to run the village.

Thanks to the Geauga County Maple Leaf for the opportunity to express my concern for residents who are often are not listened to by local politicians who are more comfortable posing for photo ops than trying to be a champion for taxpayers.

Ronald W.Wiech
Candidate, Mayor of Middlefield

Informed and Concerned

In response to Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s editorial in the Maple Leaf pertaining to my attendance at township meetings and the other candidates integrity.
Mrs. Smith, who works on the Audit Committee, should be well aware that I am kept informed of township business through my wife, Beverly Borawski, the retiring township fiscal officer.

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I have attended trustee and zoning meetings when necessary. I recently attended the Saturday, Oct. 12 special meeting pertaining to the shortage of general fund money to pay bills and payroll through year-end. Since you were not in attendance, I wanted you to know due to lack of sufficient funds, according to the information submitted by the fiscal officer, the township could be declared to be under fiscal caution according to the State of Ohio Auditor. I am concerned the township is about to go into fiscal distress with the state auditor.

It’s my opinion it is not fiscally responsible to have a year-end deficit in the general fund with little carry over to pay bills the first part of 2020. I have the time, experience and dedication to make tough decisions to keep our taxes low and zoning rural.

Steven J. Borawski
Candidate, Chardon Township Trustee

Rebuttal to Craig Richter’s LTE

To the residents of Chester Township, I would like to address Craig Richter’s letter to the editor from the Oct. 16, 2019, Chesterland News and the Oct. 17, 2019, Maple Leaf.

In regards to the UAN software. Mr. Richter is not using the UAN software for budgeting. This come out in the 2020 budget meeting with Geauga County officials held at the county offices on Aug. 19, 2019. The following were present: Craig Richter, Joe Mazzurco, Frank Kolk, Charles E. Walder, Chris Hitchcock, Jim Flaiz, other county employees and audence.

At that meeting Auditor Walder expressed his concern over the use of personal spreadsheets by Craig Richter for Chester Township’s budget. Auditor Walder wanted the budget converted over to the UAN accounting system. Craig Richter asssured Auditor Walder the converson would be done by next year.

In regards to the payroll penalties incurred by Chester Township during Craig Richter’s term.  On July 18, 2016, check 1046-2016 was issued to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $4,162.53 for payment of late deposit penalities. The taxpayers of Chester Township paid this penalty. Anyone can find this check at ohiotreasurer.gov/transparency/ohios-online-checkbook.

As a resident of Chester Township I have attended many township meetings, Craig Ricther has never presented a financial report.

If I am elected fiscal officer of Chester Township, I will use the complete UAN accounting system and I will present the reports to the trustees as designated by the State of Ohio Auditor for townships using the UAN accounting system.

In my 20-plus years as a certified public accountant doing my own payroll and the payroll for many clients, I have never once incurred or paid a payroll penalty.

I am a very hard worker and I am very good at what I do. My career as a certified public accountant has spanned over 20-plus years with clients all over the world. I was very successfull and retired at age 52.

For the record, I have not commented on or about either Mrs. Kolk or Mr. Kolk. I am a professional and I could very well be working with one or both.

My concerns over what is taking place in Chester Township government is the reason I decided to run for Chester Townshp fiscal officer. As a retired certified public accountant, I am willing to devote the time needed to do the best job I can possibly do for the residents of Chester Township. I hope you will vote for me on Nov. 5, 2019.

Patricia Jarrett CPA
Chester Township

 My Political Agenda

 A recent editorial by Gabrielle Boose, chair of the Citizens for Chardon Schools and co-chair of the Issue 21 committee, wrote, “I do not believe the other two candidates (meaning me and Joe Loyd) have the best interest of the students at heart, and are instead motivated by a misguided idea that the school board is the appropriate place to further their political agenda.”

Let’s take some time to unpack this and give the voters some facts instead of opinion. I first started attending school board meetings after an incident at school. I wanted to voice my concern to the school board, but I was surprised that there was little to no discussion at the meetings with parents/guardians to try to help resolve issues.

I continued to attend meetings for a year and a half. I met many parents at these meetings also looking for opportunities to solve problems that they and their children were facing in our schools, but were not able to find timely and satisfactory resolutions.

So why did I decide to run for school board? I did it for my family, my friends and all the other parents/families who I have met. I want to help parents and students find answers and solutions that improve the educational experience in Chardon.

This race is my first time entering the political arena. I never imagined I would ever have entered politics and have no aspirations to further a political career. My motive for running for the school board is the same motive for my 16 years of teaching — for the love of education and wanting the best for my students. That is my political agenda.

There has been a great deal of talk about CHS. I think most of us have seen the pictures of pipes, the roof, water damage, etc. I was most struck by the picture of weeds growing up along the base of the floor. There is no reason that weeds should have been growing. Instead of taking the time to photograph them and publish them to Facebook, the maintenance could have been performed to remove the weeds.

The school board has a responsibility to be good stewards of the facilities we currently have so that our students are educated in a safe environment while we decide how to proceed with improvements. I think I can confidently say that all residents of our school district want to give the students an excellent education. However, not everyone agrees on a plan for the school facilities. And that’s OK! This is why we vote!

Clearly something needs to be done about the school facilities. The needs of the school should be balanced against the bill the taxpayers are asked to pay. We must be accountable to the community so that any additional money the community pays is used in the most efficient and effective manner.

It sure would be nice to have all new school buildings and amenities, but that comes with a high price tag. The voters want to trust the elected school board and I hope to earn that trust.

Michael McDonald
Candidate, Chardon Schools Board of Education
Chardon Township

Why I’m Running

I am writing in response to Gabrielle Royle Boose letter to the editor in last week’s issue in which she questioned the motivation of two candidates (one of them me) running for a seat on the Chardon Board of Education.

I have decided to run for school board for the betterment of the education of Chardon students and make the best decisions for the community as a whole.

After going to the school board meetings, I found the board not looking for better ways of doing things, coming up with fresh ideas of their own, and have simply been giving rubber-stamp approvals to everything presented by administrators with little or no question.

There are a lot more issues to talk about other than Issue 21 that the current school board just isn’t addressing. We do not have an elementary or middle school gifted program, additionally we do not have enough resources for children with IEPs and 504s. Parents have expressed concerns with regard to safety within buildings and on buses, which is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

We need to have great schools, but blindly throwing money at education will not improve it. The board needs someone that will look out for the interests of the entire community, not just those lobbying to spend unlimited amounts of money on education. I am that candidate ready to bring fresh ideas to the board.

Joe Loyd
Candidate for Chardon Schools Board of Education