MANSFIELD – Education issues are at the forefront of the upcoming Nov. 7 general election.
The Richland County Board of Elections released its candidate and issue list on Wednesday shortly following the 4 p.m. filing deadline. The 32-page document includes countywide issues, elections in nearly every local government, and a number of board of education scrambles.
“Please keep in mind that we still must check some petitions to make sure they have the sufficient number of signatures and everything is filled out properly,” said Paulette Hankins, director of elections, in an email. “Plus, they are not officially on the ballot for November until our board meets and certifies them.”
The board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 9 a.m. to certify the petitions. Candidates who took out petitions, but didn’t file, are still on the official list. The deadline for write-in candidates is Monday, Aug. 28 at 4 p.m.
The most significant education issue comes from Shelby, where the district is asking voters for a 3.9 mil, 34-year bond issue for the purpose of improving the school district’s buildings and facilities. The goal is to build a $16 million building that would house Pre-K through eighth graders, plus a new football stadium to replace the crumbling stands at W.W. Skiles Field.
Elsewhere in Shelby education, four candidates on the ballot are competing for three positions on the board of education. The candidates include Randy Broderick, Lynn Friebel, Steve Hoffbauer, and Scott Rose.
Shelby is not the only school with decisions to make. One hotly contested race is for three open spots on the Mansfield City School District board of education, where voters will choose from a field of eight candidates including Chauncey Bragg, Chris Elswick, Gary Feagin, Judy Stahl Forney, Narda Greter, Linda Golden, Sierra Mercer and Jere Shanks.
Another contested race comes out of Ontario Local Schools, where six candidates are vying for three board of education spots. These candidates include Thomas Beck, Andrew Foss, Todd Friend, Kenn Spencer, Jerod Them and Heidi Zimmerman.
The Lexington Local Schools ballot is full of candidates to fill only three available spots. The eight candidates include Justin Billotte, John Boyd, Martin Gottschling, Jeffrey Heck, Ryan Miller, Dave Roberts, Kevin Sainiak and Robert Whitney.
Clear Fork Valley Local Schools has five candidates vying for three positions on their board of education: Kyle Beveridge, Jim DeSanto, James Klenk, Jennifer Stallard and Amy Weekley. Crestview Schools has three candidates vying for two spots: David Kissell Jr., Lisa Music, and Nicholas Stuart.
Lucas Local Schools has five candidates and only three spots to fill. The candidates include Jeanne Alexander, Timothy Cooper, Melanie Kline-Switzer, Jon Parman and James Sgambellone.
Madison Local Schools is searching to fill three spots on the board of education with four candidates. The candidates include Murray Konves, Jane McGinty, Amy Walker and Timothy Wigton.
On the local government side, Mansfield councilman-at-large Cliff Mears will defend his spot against Democratic challenger David Scott. The first-ward councilman spot will be contested between Republican David Falquette and Democrat John Harsch.
Mansfield’s clerk of court position commencing Jan. 1, 2018 will be decided between Republican Neil Chitwood and Democrat Daniel Smith.
In Ontario, the law director’s position will be decided between Democrat Sharon May and Republican Andrew Medwid. One Ontario councilman-at-large position is a write-in, Kenneth Earhart, because according to Hankins not enough candidates filed during the primaries.
The city of Shelby has a contested race to fill the municipal court judge position left behind by Judge Jon Schaefer. Shelby’s current law director Gordon Eyster will be up against Sheree Studer.
According to the document released by Hankins, there were no candidates who filed for positions in Galion – mayor, president of council, treasurer, three councilman-at-large positions and one second ward councilman position were all left blank.
The village of Crestline also had no candidates to fill positions for mayor and members of council, and the village of Lucas had no candidates running for members of council. According to Hankins, in these circumstances, the board of elections expects a number of write-in candidates.
The village of Bellville has one candidate for mayor, Teri Brenkus, for an unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2019. The village has four candidates running to fill four council positions: Stephen Edwards, Joshua Epperson, Jason Guilliams, Joann Palmer, Jonnie Browne, Trent Dawson, Dale Horn, and Joe Stallard.
The village of Lexington has five candidates running for four positions on council: Jessica Calhoun, Adam Gongwer, Eric Lehnhart, Kim Little, and Brian White. The village of Plymouth has six candidates running for four council positions: Stephen Dills, Charles Doan, Joan Felver, Cassaundra Fryman, Jeremy Parish and Elaine Root.
The entire county will vote for a 1.0 mil renewal and a 0.5 mil increase for five years for the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging tax levy. The levy would go towards the continued support of senior citizen services or facilities.
