CRESTLINE – By a 3 to 2 vote, the Village of Crestline council chose Gene Toy as council member to fill the position left vacant by Stacy Wampler. Wampler resigned due to a relocation.
“We need someone with experience,” said Councilman Mike Blaising, adding that Toy has had extensive experience in city management and finance.
Toy applied for the position because he wanted to put what he knows and learned to good use.
Toy said the biggest challenge facing Crestline is financial. He said in the past three years funds have been transferred into the general fund to bring it into the black. “That’s not sustainable,” he said. “We need to take a look from top to bottom and side to side at everything Crestline does – look at it and scrutinize.”
This year Crestline will have about a $100,000 deficit in the general fund at the end of the year, which will need to be fixed, by transferring from other funds.
“Services are good,” said Toy. “We have an excellent group of employees, no complaints about services. People come from all around to go to our pool, nice parks in the summer, good streets in the winter.
Toy said the challenges in Crestline are fixable. He feels his years of experience in Galion, dealing with the million dollar deficit in the street fund, and fixing that, will help in his service to Crestline.
