Voters in Mad River Township saw the only contested Fiscal Officer race in the entire county. Incumbent Maralee Leonard faced off with three challengers hoping to be re-elected to a third term.
Challengers Jackie Ashworth, David Rudy and Jennifer Wendling responded to media questions and started off their campaigning early in the October race. Leonard waited and refused to answer questions posed by all media outlets. In the days leading up to Election Day, additional concerns were raised regarding possible non-payments and late payments by the fiscal officer.
In the end, voters supported change for the township by electing David Rudy a “self employed account and tax Professional”. Rudy promised to bring a “solid work ethic and some stability” to the office if elected. In his reply to the Enon Eagle, Rudy saw his greatest challenge if elected would be to “regain the confidence of the township residents”. Rudy stated “they need to know that tax money is being used to provide all of the township services timely and efficiently”. Rudy also stated that he would not be using a personal e-mail account for township business and would be able to handle the duties of fiscal officer without additional employees.
In the race for Township Trustee, Kathy Estep faced an opponent in Stuart Young as she made a bid for her fifth term in office. Estep campaigned throughout the township and posted signs. Young also campaigned but was unsuccessful in unseating Estep.
If Young had been elected, it would have been the first time that a trustee would have been elected from the eastern half of the township. This is the first time in years that Estep has faced a challenge for the board seat. In her last election she ran unopposed.
The Village of Enon will see change on the Village Council as Jerry Crane elected not to seek re-election this year. Incumbent Steve Trout will return to his seat on council and will be joined by Jeremy Whitacre. Voters had a choice between Trout, Whitacre and Mitch Oliver to fill the two seats on council this year.
Whitacre is a Program Analyst at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and oversees a $40 million budget according to information provided to the Enon Eagle. Whitacre will bring a fresh set of ideas to council and will be the youngest member serving the Village. He is a lifelong resident of the community and is raising his family where he grew up.
Enon Mayor Tim Howard ran unopposed for another four year term in office.
Also in the Village of Enon, voters were asked to once again renew the police levy to allow for continued levels of service. Voters agreed and it will be business as usual for Chief Wilcox and his officers.
Two seats were up for election to the Greenon Local Board of Education. Long time board member Dennis Henry was re-elected. Mark Remmetter was seeking a second term in office and voters narrowly approved his return. Remmetter received 1,607 votes and challenger Beth Campbell received 1,576. Challenger Chris Price received 1,282 votes.
Voters agreed to support the renewal of a 1.93 operating levy for the Greenon Local School District on the ballot. The district will collect the first payment in 2017 of the renewal which is in place for 5 years.
Voters across Clark County faced one levy renewal to support the parks and one new request for funding to support the Heritage Center located in Springfield.
The new tax would have provided the Heritage Center Museum with operating funds beginning with the 2016 tax collection. The .3 mill levy did not gather enough support from voters losing by just over 3,000 votes.
The Clark County Park District levy that provides funding for both National Trails Parks and Recreation as well as the Clark County Park District was a renewal on the ballot this year.
The .06 mill levy was approved by voters across the county assuring funding for an additional 10 years for the parks.
The .06 mill levy was a 10 year renewal to replace the current 5 year levy. Voters did support the long term funding voting two to one in favor of the continued funding.