Voter's Guide – Candidates
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VOTER’S GUIDE – CANDIDATES For Portage County, Ohio NOVEMBER 3, 2015 GENERAL ELECTION This voter’s guide is a joint venture of the Record-Courier and the League of Women Voters of Kent and Northern Portage County. The League of Women Voters of Kent and Northern Portage County are non-partisan political organizations that encourage the informed and active participation of citizens in government, work to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influence public policy through education and advocacy. Membership in the League is open to all citizens of voting age, male or female. The League is funded by members’ dues and contributions from members and non-members. Donations are welcome. All local candidates who filed their intent to run for office with the Board of Elections (Portage County, Summit County, or Stark County) and are running opposed in the General Election were sent questions relating to the office they were seeking by the LWV of Kent, as well as instructions on how to complete the candidate questionnaire. Most of the unopposed candidates were sent the questionnaire asking for biographical information. The candidates were asked to participate by either entering their responses on the vote411 website or submitting their responses to the LWV of Kent in accordance with the following guidelines. The League of Women Voters of Kent reserves the right not to publish any material determined to be libelous, damaging to a person or group, or offensive in accordance with the League’s values and as outlined in its publishing policy. It reserves the right to offer alternative wording to the candidate. The League will not correct spelling, grammar or punctuation. Each candidate is solely responsible for the text they submit, including the truth of his/her statements. Each candidate is advised in writing to carefully note the word limitations listed on their questionnaire since no text beyond the word limit will be included. A candidate’s answers are accepted and printed only with the understanding that the material will not be used in any way that may be deemed to be an endorsement by the League of his or her candidacy or views. Visit www.vote411.org to view a side-by-side comparison of the candidates’ biographical information and answers. The issues on the ballot in Portage County for the general election may be found in the separate publication prepared by the League of Women Voters of Kent. The League of Women Voters of Kent and Northern Portage County thank the Record-Courier for providing the print version of the Voter’s Guide. We also thank Director Faith Lyon and the staff at the Portage County Board of Elections for their valuable assistance in compiling this material. The information contained in this publication may not be reproduced without consent of the League of Women Voters of Kent. League of Women Voters of Kent www.kent.oh.lwvnet.org President: Iris Meltzer Voters’ Guide Chair: Nena Hankins, (330)673-0128 League of Women Voters of Northern Portage County--Voter Service Chair: Sue Griffey, (330)562- 8027 To print a copy of your ballot, go to the Portage County Board of Elections web site View Ballots page: http://www.voterfind.com/portageoh/ballotlist.aspx Select Election Date: 11/3/2015 General Election Select District Type: Cities, Villages, or Townships e.g. Cities Select District Name: e.g. Kent City Click the Find Ballots box. Find your precinct and click the View Ballot box. The sample ballot should appear. If you don’t know your precinct, click on “searching” in the paragraph on the View Ballots page or follow this link: http://www.voterfind.com/portageoh/vtrlookup.aspx FIND YOUR CANDIDATES CITY/VILLAGE/TOWNSHIP/SCHOOL DISTRICT ON BALLOT IN PORTAGE COUNTY PAGE CANDIDATES NOS. All cities, villages, townships Municipal Court Judge 28 Aurora City Council at Large, Council Wards 2, 4 & 6 1-3 Kent City Council Wards 1-6 4-6 Mayor, President of Council, Director of Finance, Director of Ravenna City Law, Council at Large, Council Wards 3 & 4 7-15 Streetsboro City Mayor, Council Wards 1-4 16-21 Mayor, Director of Finance, Director of Law, Council Wards 2 & Tallmadge City 3 22-27 Brady Lake Village Mayor, Clerk-Treasurer, Council 28 Garrettsville Village Mayor , Clerk-Treasurer, Council, Bd. Of Public Affairs 28-31 Hiram Village Mayor, Council 31-33 Mantua Village Mayor, Clerk-Treasurer, Council 34-35 Mogadore Village Mayor, Council, Council expired term ending 12/31/17 35-37 Sugar Bush Knolls Village Mayor, Clerk-Treasurer, Council 37 Windham Village Mayor, Council 37 Atwater Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 37-38 Brimfield Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 38-43 Charlestown Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 44 Deerfield Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 44-45 Edinburg Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 45 Franklin Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 45 Freedom Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 46-48 Hiram Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 48 Mantua Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 49-51 Nelson Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 52 Palmyra Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 53 Paris Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 53 Randolph Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 54-56 Ravenna Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 56-57 Rootstown Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 58-61 Shalersville Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 61-62 Suffield Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 62-63 Windham Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer 63 PAGE SCHOOL DISTRICTS CANDIDATES NOS. Mahoning County ESC Board member 64 Stark County ESC Board member 64 Summit County ESC Board member 65 Aurora City SD Board member 66-67 Crestwood Local SC Board member 68-69 Field Local SD Board member 69 James A. Garfield Local SD Board member 70 Kent City SD Board member 70 Lake Local SD Board member 71 Mogadore Local SD Board member 72 Ravenna City SD Board member 73-74 Rootstown Local SD Board member 75 Southeast Local SD Board member 76-78 Board member, Board member unexpired term ending Springfield Local SD 12/31/17 79 Stow-Munroe Falls City SD Board member 80-81 Streetsboro City SD Board member 82-84 Board member, Board member unexpired term ending Tallmadge City SD 12/31/17 84-86 Waterloo Local SD Board member 86 West Branch Local SD Board member 86 Windham Exempted Village SD Board member 87 Aurora Council at Large Vote for not more than 2 John J. Kudley, Jr. Occupation: Retired Educator; Director of Aurora Historical Society & Museum Address: 520 W. Pioneer Trail Aurora, OH 44202 Age: 69 Education: BA, MA American History, MA Educational Administration Training & Experience: Ward 3 Councilman Councilman-at-Large President Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole, Chair Landmark Commission, Vice Chair Chamber of Commerce Liaison Scott Wolf Occupation: Sr. Programmer/Analyst Address: 156 Eldridge Rd. Aurora, OH 44202 Age: 48 Education: Attended Aurora City Schools, graduated Aurora High School class of '85, Mount Union College class of '89 Business Administration Training & Experience: Member of Aurora City Council, Council At Large February 2013 to present. Chairman of the Ad Hoc Parks and Recreation committee, Audit Committee member, Member of the Firemen's Dependency Board, Member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee 1 Aurora Council Ward 2 Robert A. Galaska, Jr. Occupation: High Voltage Electrician Address: 51 Townline Rd. Aurora, OH 44202 Age: 43 Education: 1989 Aurora High School graduate, attended Tri-C, 5-yr Electrician Apprenticeship, 3-yr High Voltage Splicing program Training & Experience: 15 yrs as a High Voltage Electrician at NASA, 6 yrs as Aurora Councilman-at-Large (Chairman of Buildings and Grounds Committee, Vice Chairman of Service and Utilities Committee, Liason to Aurora Schools Foundation & Library Board, Member of Audit Committee & Tree Comm) Q: What ideas to you have to repair and maintain Aurora's infrastructure? A: After thoroughly reviewing past and current conditions of water, sanitary and storm systems, I would prioritize projects according to potential failure or biggest impact, without overlooking individual needs. Then I would push for action instead of sitting back. The condition of the roads are already rated to schedule repairs and replacements. However, I don't think the conditions of berms are considered part of this road rating system and would ensure that they would be included. With all the storm water problems in our city, I would review past storm water plans that were never implemented. We should save time and money by using the studies that we have already had commissioned. I would like to size the infrastructure like water and sewer lines logically and with forethought in order to save money in the long run. The material and labor costs to redo inadequately engineered infrastructure in the future would be astronomical. Aurora Council Ward 2 Denny Kovach Occupation: Athletic Trainer/Akron Children's Hospital Address: 1020 Winchell Rd. Aurora, OH 44202 Education: College Graduate - B.A. U.S. Army Training & Experience: Pro Sports--NHL/AHL/CHL. West Point Staff. Fitness Industry- -Business Mgr. & Sales. Q: What ideas to you have to repair and maintain Aurora's infrastructure? A: The ideas I have to maintain and repair our infrastructure are the following: 1. Continuous inspection of our storm water inlets to measure efficiency. 2. Continue our road inspection and re-surfacing program alternating what roads are in need. 3. Keeping a financial budget to enable the city to complete projects. 4. Maintain enough vehicles to enable workers to complete their tasks safely and efficiently. 5. More interaction with staff/workers who perform our day to day tasks. 2 Aurora Council Ward 4 George C. Horvat Occupation: Budiness Development Officer Address: 127 Chelmsford Dr. Aurora, OH 44202 Age: 62 Education: Attended Community College Training & Experience: As President of City Council I am a member of the Audit Committee and the Economic and Entrepreneurial Development Board.