MANSFIELD, Ohio — The North End Community Improvement Collaborative hosted a “Meet the Candidates Night” on Wednesday evening. Candidates were given the chance to introduce themselves and address upcoming issues.
On Nov. 3, voters will elect a city council president, a law director, a second ward council member, a sixth ward council member and two Mansfield City School Board of Education members. All candidates were invited to the event.
Bill Baker of NECIC moderated the event. To begin, each candidate introduced themselves.
Council President
Phillip E. Scott is up for re-election in November. He is running opposed by Michael N. Hill III, who was absent from the event. NECIC Event Coordinator Kizzy Williams read Hill’s introduction.
“I have always strived to help people, it’s just my nature. I would love to stay on city council and hopefully serve as council president and continue to make Mansfield grow,” read Williams.
For his opening statement, Scott focused on the city’s past financial status and its future.
“We continue to struggle with finances and budget, but I think that’s something we have to keep our eye on so that we don’t repeat the past and go back into spending money we don’t have,” Scott said.
In response to a question related to residential and industrial blight and how he would address the issue, Scott said looking to the future will be key.
“Maybe we have to think outside the box a little. I think we get caught up in looking at how we (the city) used to be, but we’ll never see those days again,” said Scott.
Law Director
John R. Spon, Mansfield’s current law director, is running opposed by David L. Remy, a lawyer in Mansfield.
Remy focused on his experience in his opening statement. He said he has 23 years of experience as a public servant in the law director’s department. “I spent half of that time in the criminal section, running the criminal section. And I spent the other half of that time as a law director.”
“I believe that I bring dedication to the job; I bring commitment to the job; I bring impartiality to the job and I bring fairness to the job,” he concluded.
Spon said that, since being elected as Mansfield’s law director in 2011, he has earned respect in the community.
“I was endorsed by our, the FOP. The FOP had known Dave Remy, who I respect. And they’ve known him because they saw him in office as law director for several years. They’ve seen me as law director for several years and they endorsed me. That was unanimous,” said Spon.
Toward the end of the meeting, Spon said the greatest danger to Mansfield is the threat of allowing “toxic waste dumping” in the industrial park — an issue that his opponent supports, he said.
“When that was a danger to our community, I fought it. There is nothing more dangerous,” said Spon as he explained his support of the establishment of a charter amendment, which reportedly protects Mansfield from the installment of injection wells.
Remy responded.
“It is not a matter of home rule. It is something that is controlled by the state,” said Remy, as he ran out of time with his rebuttal.
Second Ward City Council
Norval Blackwell, who is opposed by Jeff Rock, focused on his career with GM and his faith. This will be Blackwell’s first run for public office. Rock was absent from the meeting, but wrote an introductory speech, which Williams read.
“Regarding the biggest problem the city faces, I can’t say one is more important than the other. To solve poverty we must continue to look for ways to attract businesses to our community, we must also nurture businesses we currently have,” read Williams.
“My faith is very important to me. I depend on my faith in decision making. I’m an almost-33-year member employee at the GM plant,” he said, acknowledging the plant’s closure. “I can’t take credit for what happened these last years. In the mid nineties we crafted a highly competitive agreement. I always try to keep management needs in mind.”
Sixth Ward City Council
Garnetta Pender, Mansfield’s current sixth ward city council member, is running opposed by Michael J. Mount.
Pender said she has lived in Mansfield for 55 years. When she retired in 2011 from a 23-year career with the county board of elections, she said she wanted to make a difference in the community.
“I’ve always been interested in the city of Mansfield, even though I wasn’t born here. My heart is focused on our youth. The root of our problem in the city is getting our youth focused,” said Pender.
Due to a prior commitment, Pender could not stay for the duration of the meeting.
Mount acknowledged his youth, commenting “he was young enough to be his incumbent’s youngest grandson.” With approving laughter from the crowd, 20-year-old Mount said anything is possible with God and invoked a hope to revitalize the city’s youth.
“We have another generation rising. The opportunities look bleak for the young in our community. We need to make this town a great place for young entrepreneurs, like myself, to succeed. There are many aspects to that, but high on the list are creativity and activity,” said Mount.
When asked what could be done to curb industrial blight, Mount demonstrated his creativity by proposing city council to “think outside of the box.”
“We need to see those commercial buildings as assets rather than liabilities. In Akron, they turned the abandoned Goodyear factory into a mall. The opportunities are out there,” said Mount.
Mansfield Schools Board of Education
There are four candidates running for two board of education member positions. Renda Cline, Cliff Crose, Chauncey Bragg Sr. and Sheryl Weber are competing for votes.
According to Mansfield City Schools’ public relations officer Larry Gibbs, the board will elect a president and vice president during their annual reorganization meeting in January 2016.
Weber touted her 32-year teaching career with Mansfield City Schools, 10 of which were in an administrative role.
“I’ve experienced education on all three levels, elementary, middle school and high school. I also am a Mansfield native and sent my child through Mansfield City Schools, so I’ve seen it through the eyes of a parent too,” said Weber.
Bragg said his military background will be effective in leading as a board member.
“When I was in high school, I developed a disaster-aid program through Red Cross and ran it. We need to get back to that, when students did things in the community. We need to give them something to do,” said Bragg.
Cline said she has served the board for the last four years, two of which have been as president.
“It’s been an uphill struggle,” she said, acknowledging the recent reduction in force. “But I will continue to work hard.”
All board of education candidates stressed the importance of empowering the youth, relating their success to the city’s success.
Levies
In attendance to the meeting were Joe Trolian, executive director of Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services and Matt Work, director of Environmental Health.
Trolian spoke briefly on the Mental Health 10-year, 1-mill renewal levy. The levy will be on the November ballot.
Work presented facts about the public health levy, a renewal levy that will, according to Work, cost residents of a $100,000 home $32 per year. The levy will support 75 percent of Richland Public Health’s 70 public health related programs.
NECIC will host another Meet the Candidates Night on October 14 at 4 p.m. at their building on 199 North Main Street.
