2013 Yellow Springs News Election Guide

A S P E C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E Y E L L O W S P R I N G S N E W S • P. O . B O X 1 8 7, Y E L L O W S P R I N G S , O H 4 5 3 8 7 • 9 3 7 - 7 6 7 - 7 3 7 3 • W W W . Y S N E W S . C O M

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ABOUT THE ELECTION GUIDE The Election Guide 2013 contains information about the local candidates and issues that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot for Yellow Springs and Miami Township residents. Candidates were invited to participate by submitting biographical information and responding to questions related to their contests.

Asterisks (*) denote incumbent candidates.

POLLING LOCATION CHANGE, TIMES On election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.

New this year is the single polling station for all Yellow Springs precincts and one Miami Township precinct at Antioch University Midwest, located at 900 Dayton Street at the corner of East Enon Road. All voters in village precincts 440, 441, 442 and 443, and voters in Miami Township precinct 456 will vote in Midwest’s multipurpose room, located just east of the main entrance. Voters in Miami

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Township precinct 455 will continue to vote at the Cedar ville Baptist Church, located at 109 N. Main Street in Cedarville.

In the village, precinct 440 consists of most of the north side of town, and precinct 441 includes the western part of Yellow Springs. Precinct 442 consists of much of the central areas of the village and downtown. Precinct 443 includes the south end of Yellow Springs.

In Miami Township, precinct 455 includes the eastern portion of the township, or residences east of Grinnell and Bryan Park roads. Precinct 456 includes the western half of the township.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS In-person early voting for the Nov. 5 general election continues at the Greene County Board of Elections at 551 Ledbetter Road in Xenia, Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. through Saturday, Oct. 31. Extended early voting hours will be held Friday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m.–noon.

The board of elections will also accept written requests that an absentee ballot be mailed to a voter’s home until Saturday, Nov. 2, at noon. Voters are not required to state a reason for the request, but they must provide either their Ohio driver’s license number or the last four digits of their

Social Security number in order to receive a ballot (absentee application forms are available at the Yellow Springs Senior Center.) Ballots mailed from anywhere within the U.S. must be post-marked no later than Monday, Nov. 4, to the Greene County Board of Elections, 551 Ledbetter Road, Xenia OH 45385.

For more information, contact the Greene County Board of Elections at 562-6170 or visit www.co.greene. oh.us/BOE.

VOTER ID REQUIRED All voters must show I.D. at the polls before they are allowed to vote a regular ballot. Acceptable I.D. includes a current and valid photo I.D. with correct address or a state-issued photo I.D. with a former address and the last four digits of the driver’s license or state identi�cation number; a military I.D.; a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or other government document showing the voter’s name and current address. (Voter registration noti�cation is not an acceptable form of identi�cation.)

Voters who do not provide one of these documents may still cast a provisional ballot by providing the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number or signing an af�rmation statement swearing to the voter’s identity under penalty of election falsi�cation.

POLLING LOCATION ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY MIDWEST

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY MIDWEST

YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS

RIDES AVAILABLE The Yellow Springs Senior Center will offer rides to the polls for local seniors and residents who are unable to drive. Those needing rides must notify the Senior Center a minimum of three days in advance of election day.

Call 767-5751 to schedule.

COUNTY ISSUES 4Issue 2 Issue 2 is a renewal of a �ve-year 1.5mill operating levy for Greene County Children Services. As a renewal levy, it is not a tax increase.

The levy funds support Children Ser vices and the care, protection and placement of abused, neglected and dependent children. In 2012, the agency ser ved over 2,000 children and 1,400 families in Greene County. A homeowner whose house is appraised at $100,000 will pay a total of $52.50 per year in support of the Children Services levy.

4Issue 3 Issue 3 is a renewal of a �ve-year 3.5mill operating levy for Greene County Developmental Disabilities. The levy is not a tax increase.

Funds generated by this levy will bene�t Greene County’s community developmental disabilities programs, including Four Oaks Inter vention, The Atrium, Greene, Inc., Community Services Facilities and other services.

In 2012 the agency met close to 3,000 requests for services, including early childhood programs, employment and vocational programs, residential services, behavior management and respite programs.

For ever y $100,000 of appraised proper ty value, residents will pay $95.99 for the levy.

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Morgan Field

Issue 4 is a renewal of a �ve-year 0.5-mill operating levy for Greene Memorial Hospital. The levy is not a tax increase.

The levy funds are dedicated to current operating expenses for Greene Memorial Hospital, Inc., a subsidiary of Kettering Health Network. The levy would also support the purchase of equipment ser ving emergency services, nursing services, cancer services and women’s health services. A majority af�rmative vote is necessary for passage. For ever y $100,000 of appraised property valuation, the levy will cost property owners $50 per year.

YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS

SCHOOL DISTRICT 4Issue 20 Issue 20 is the renewal of a 1.2-mill permanent improvement levy for the Yellow Springs Exempted Village School District. The levy is not a tax increase.

The permanent improvement levy generates about $145,000 annually to pay for the construction and repair of buildings and the purchase of items considered to last more than �ve years.

The levy would cost residents about $35 for every $100,000 of appraised property valuation.

VILLAGE COUNCIL There are three seats up for election on Yellow Springs Village Council. The two highest vote-getters will serve a four-year term, and the third highest will serve a two-year term. The News asked the candidates to submit a short biography and respond to the following three questions: 1.

What do you see as the most important attributes of a new Village manager?

What process should the Village use to choose one?

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What do you believe is the best solution for sourcing Village water?

3.

Do you believe it’s the role of local government to take a role in keeping the village affordable? If so, what should that role be?

CHRISSY CRUZ

Born in Cincinnati, I �rst came to Yellow Springs in 1974 and have considered it my home ever since. I am

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a single parent, raising my grandson who attends Mills Lawn School. I studied accounting and of�ce technology at Greene County Career Center and attended Sinclair Community College for two years, majoring in commercial art.

I have worked as a nurse aide at Friends Care Center in the early years, as a substitute teacher at the Community Children’s Center and as a receptionist for several of�ces here in Yellow Springs. For a number of years I was an of�ce manager for a local glass company before moving on to spend the next eight years working for the SuperValu Corporation as a business coordinator and IT specialist.

Currently, I have my own homebased business creating baked goods which I sell at the Yellow Springs Farmer’s Market every Saturday and out of my kitchen during the week.

This is a great job for me since it allows me to set my own hours, I get along pretty well with my boss, the work is challenging and creative enough to keep me interested and I get a lot of joy out of feeding hungry people.

Question responses: 1 . Our new Village manager must be a good team player, because we are a community that pays attention.

Our best intentions will only be fully realized by collaborating and appreciating all the team players that make it happen.

Our Council members need a manager who is adept at providing information necessary for making decisions and implementing them; a manager who knows how to keep the administrative process running smoothly and contribute their knowledge in how to make Yellow Springs the place it wants to be without pushing their own agenda. Village employees deserve a manager who works well with others and respects their skills and contribution to the community.

And villagers deserve a manager who will listen to and work with them.

Council meetings in Yellow Springs are frequently “standing room only” because villagers pay attention to community issues and care enough to take the time to attend meetings in order to contribute input into how the Council should enact ordinances and resolutions that impact village life. Numerous times while attending Council meetings I have heard guest speakers mention that they are impressed with how many people from the community show up for our Council meetings as that is not the case in a lot of other places.

I favor the search process as it has been conducted in the past for choosing a new Village manager. The initial outlay of monies to conduct a proper search is minimal in comparison to the

costs incurred by making the wrong choice for this very important position.

The community should de�nitely be part of this process. It is important for villagers to know the background and intentions of those seeking this position so that, as a village, we can make a decision that is in our best interests.

Yellow Springs is a unique community, although we may not be able to offer the best options for a potential Village manager because we are such a small town. Ideally, our Village manager would be someone who already is part of our community, or who is willing to invest in becoming a villager.

Part of the compensation should be the reward of participating in the work of keeping Yellow Springs a vibrant, sustainable community where people love to live.

2 . The best solution for sourcing our Village water is to keep it local and either build a new water plant or refurbish our current one. Although a new water plant would be a very costly venture, it would be an investment in our village that will pay off in the long run. A new water plant would be guaranteed for 50 years, with barely any maintenance costs other than staff to keep it running. In that sense it seems to be a bargain.

Because the �nal engineering studies have yet to be presented, the �gures on refurbishing our present plant are not yet available. After those studies are complete, if it is determined that it is possible for our present plant to be refurbished to a state that would be equal to a new plant for less cost and still provide a sound long-term solution to the problem, then I would be open to that solution.

Most of the information presented so far on this option has pointed out that, in order to bring the old plant up to date and suitable to meet current standards and the projected future needs of the village, it would most likely be as big of an investment of village resources as building a new plant altogether.

Sourcing water from another community would not be an option I would choose for the Village for numerous reasons. Although it is wise to investigate all alternatives in order to be communally and �scally responsible and the option may appear attractive cost wise in the immediate future, water is a precious resource and this solution to the problem has too many variables involved for me to be comfortable with the long-term implications or outcome.

Keeping our water source local will ensure that we maintain control over the quality and affordability of this very important resource. Our community is

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fortunate to have an abundant source of water that is relatively unsullied by pollutants and contaminants. We should treasure this valuable resource and invest in it for the present and the future of Yellow Springs.

3. It is essential that local government play a role in keeping Yellow Springs affordable. Affordability plays a vital role in maintaining the character of the village and also helping it to grow. If our local government doesn’t look out for the community, then who will?

Most often the discussions regarding affordability are centered on the ability of families to afford to rent or buy homes in the community, and how to attract new businesses in order to increase our tax base. Those things are vital if we want to build our community but there is much more to it than that.

Affordability is also about being �scally responsible and spending tax dollars wisely to upgrade and maintain the infrastructure of the community and invest in competent staff. Maintaining our resources in good condition is key to keeping things affordable.

Being supportive of the businesses in town, whether big or small, contributes to affordability, because villagers can acquire the things they need locally and �nd employment in the town where they live. Having a vibrant downtown provides jobs for residents without spending a lot of money on transportation costs.

Allowing more �exibility in home based businesses and giving assistance to new business start-ups is a good way to make an impact as well. Attracting new businesses to town is a great idea and worth the effort, but I feel it is an even greater idea to encourage and grow our own.

Encouraging local events for villagers to participate in and enjoy makes the village more affordable. Villageowned space is frequently used for these activities which contributes to making them more accessible and affordable for families. Not having to load up the mini-van and spend a lot of gas money just to have a good time makes the village more affordable and just as important, more livable as well.

Basically, affordability is a huge issue with so many aspects. I am currently exploring these issues more intensely as I look into solutions, because keeping Yellow Springs affordable is very important to me and most every other villager I know.

How to go about doing that? I don’t have all the answers, so I can’t say exactly. But I’m vested and engaged in �guring out what it takes and working on implementing those measures.

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BRIAN HOUSH

I grew up in the Dayton area, completed my undergraduate degree at Cornell University, and attained a JD/MBA from Tulane University.

After advocating for indigent clients with disabilities at New Orleans Legal Assistance for several years, I shifted gears and pursued a career abroad.

For 10 years, I managed the corporate training company that I founded while serving actively on �ve boards, including the American Chamber of Commerce and the American School of Bangkok.

I have learned much from meaningful leadership experiences that have produced incredible results.

In response to the devastating 2004 tsunami, I coordinated efforts to raise nearly $1 million from the American business community to rebuild schools affected by the disaster.. As a citizen of Yellow Springs, I have been highly involved in supporting our local nonpro�ts, currently serving as the YSKP president, and I have led several major initiatives, including YS-Opoly and the Public Places Resources Group. I work as a consultant for the Consortium for Global Development, which provides me with the �exibility to be dynamically engaged in our community and easily accessible. I am a “doer,” as my professional career consistently re�ects, and I look forward to the opportunity to represent all community members.

Question responses: 1 . I have had discussions with many Yellow Springers about what they consider to be the strengths of our former Village managers, and several key attributes are consistently highlighted that inform my thinking about the skill set that our next Village manager should possess. Citizens generally seem to appreciate the ability to get things done balanced with respect for village values. People also value someone in this position who is

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diplomatic, knowledgeable, energetic and collaborative. Importantly, most villagers indicate that they want a person who has a �nger on the pulse of Yellow Springs. In addition, I believe that we need an individual who has solid management skills and does not micro-manage her or his team. Our past Village managers have each possessed at least some of these qualities, and it is critical that the next Village manager have the complete skill set.

We have major challenges to tackle over the next few years, and success will depend significantly on strong leadership from Village Council and a solid Village government team.

Admittedly, it will not be easy to �nd this individual, and we will likely need to actively market our community to attract the right candidates.

I support a process that promotes dialogue and input from the full community, and I would like to organize at least one citizen committee to be part of the vetting, interviewing and hiring of our next Village manager.

Additionally, I recommend a formal public forum as well as an informal community event to provide villagers with opportunities to get to better know the �nal candidates. Being comfortable with personal interactions with citizens is important to being an effective Village manager in Yellow Springs, and ideally the individual that we select will hit the ground running because she or he will have had time through the hiring process to embrace our community and become acclimated to our village.

2 . Based on the preliminary studies coupled with citizen surveys, refurbishing the current water plant seems a promising solution when compared to the options of constructing a new water plant or sourcing water from Spring�eld. However, the more comprehensive studies have not yet been completed, and I strongly believe that it is important to consider all the facts before making a �nal decision on the village’s water sourcing solution.

In general, I support investment in our local infrastructure, and I know that this is highly valued by many of our community members from the conversations that I have had with different groups. The 2012 Yellow Springs News survey data also supports this perspective. Still, I feel that it is necessary to evaluate the economic impacts involved with using hard water versus soft water, and it seems likely that villagers will want to weigh in again once we have more information about the three alternatives. Notably, the least expensive option currently on the table is rehabbing the existing water plant, which is persuasive to me, but there are long-term considerations

that could mean another option is more economically viable.

While cost effectiveness is a key factor, ultimately, I believe that the facts will provide justi�cations for all three strategies; thus, it will become necessary to accurately determine what our community values are regarding this issue to make an appropriate decision.

I am prepared to represent the consensus among our citizens, and I am quite open to your feedback on what makes the most sense for our village.

I �rmly believe that it is a priority for Village Council to make a decision on this issue so that action can be taken to avoid a potential shutdown of our water system.

3 . I feel that it is the responsibility of the entire community to help keep the village affordable, and local government should facilitate appropriate initiatives that represent community values. Yellow Springs should be welcoming for all types of people, and my primary duty as a Village Council member is to represent our residents and to promote a healthy and happy environment in our village.

Speci�cally, I believe that we must address affordability from both directions. Not only should we consider strategies for providing affordable housing and a reasonable cost of living to encourage diversity, but we should also be actively engaged in responsible economic development for Yellow Springs so that our citizens can obtain better jobs with salaries commensurate with the benefits, facilities and services that we want in our village. Great schools, green space and energy and dependable infrastructure represent some of the important aspects of the high quality of life that we expect as villagers. If we value affordable housing as a community, then it makes sense for local government to facilitate this initiative.

I am con�dent that long-term capital improvements and economic development will further encourage affordable housing.

I look forward to a continued collaborative effort among community members to address af fordability issues in Yellow Springs, and Village Council should represent citizens and encourage activities that maintain a sustainable standard of living. In principle, I support affordable housing, recognizing that there are competing interests and priorities. I realize that public funds must be spent in a responsible manner that re�ects the community as a whole. To some extent, residents de�ne affordability by the choices that they make related to what they are willing to pay for educational excellence, public services and quality of life. I will represent your views

YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS

in making decisions on how to best develop our village.

MARIANNE MACQUEEN

Attracted to Arthur Morgan’s concept of the “small community,” I moved to Yellow Springs in 1972, with my 1-year-old son. Shortly after moving to the village, I helped start the Community Infant Center — a cooperative childcare facility that later merged with the Children’s Center — and ser ved as treasurer of that organization. My work career includes 19 years as a small business owner: �rst as a remodeling contractor in the village, and more recently as co-owner of the Village Guesthouse. I have 21 years of experience directing local organizations, including the Village Mediation Program, Community Service, Inc. and Yellow Springs Home, Inc. I’ve served on numerous local and regional boards, including the Community Children’s Center, Community Resources, Friends Care Community, BW Greenway conservation land trust and the Ohio Con�ict Management Network.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in biology, a master’s degree in teaching and a master’s degree in con�ict resolution. My work and volunteer experience have provided me with skills that include budget and �nancial planning; project development and long-range planning; negotiation, mediation and group facilitation and interviewing and hiring. As a long-time resident who has always worked in the village, I’ve gained an understanding and appreciation of the uniqueness of this community.

Question responses: 1. Council should �rst review the role of Village manager as described on the Village website and engage citizens in a discussion of the expectations of the manager. The Yellow Springs Village manager needs to be both a good com-

YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS

municator and an effective administrator. He or she needs to understand that, in this community, the position is political because of the active interest citizens take in Village government.

She must be able to listen well, deal with a variety of constituencies and differing viewpoints. She needs to be able to research and bring forth issues to the Village Council and the community and propose options for solutions.

While the manager should make recommendations, she needs to be able to step back to let (and encourage) Council to make decisions.

In theory, Council sets policy and the manager carries it out. However, there is a very wide gray area between policy and the strategies for carrying out policy. The manager needs to know how to tread carefully through this gray area. As an administrator, he needs to earn the respect and support of the department heads and the whole Village staff and be seen as hard working, trustworthy and fair.

The manager needs to be a generalist with enough understanding of budgets and �nance, legal issues and law enforcement, infrastructure, land-use planning, and economic development so that he can effectively deal with the variety of areas for which they are responsible. Given recent state funding cuts, the manager will need to be �scally prudent. Clearly this person needs to be well organized.

Because of the short tenure of our recent Village managers, it is possible that Yellow Springs has gained a reputation as being a dif�cult place in which to be a Village manager. Council may need to address this perception. Some have suggested that Council seek candidates from within the Village.

Regardless, it is important that candidates understand the active nature of Village citizenship. It is critical that Council creates venues for citizens to get to know candidates and provide feedback. But it is equally important that Council provide ways for the candidates to understand the nature of the Yellow Springs community.

2. I have toured the Spring�eld and Yellow Springs water treatment plants.

From those educational tours, the information I’ve gained from attending recent Council meetings, and talking to citizens, I think it makes sense to construct a new Yellow Springs water plant. At this point I favor that option over repairing the existing facility or purchasing water from Springfield.

These are my reasons: • Water is our most critical resource.

As such, it makes sense to have local control.

• We have a high quality water source and the well-field area is relatively protected from potential

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contaminating sources such as major highways, industries and toxic waste sites. In addition we have a Wellhead Protection Plan which — when of�cially adopted — should provide an effective mechanism to continue protecting our water source.

• While building a new plant will result in increased costs, the cost of having clean, safe and dependable water is relatively low compared to other costs most citizens bear. For example, most of us probably spend many times more on our telecommunication fees than on the cost of our water.

3 . I believe that affordability should be a concern of local government. The health of the community depends upon it being affordable. Yellow Springs gains an important sense of legacy from those multi-generational families in which elders on �xed incomes can continue to afford to live here and younger generations can afford to stay and raise families, or move back to raise families. There is a cohesiveness and increased sense of participation and ownership when those who work in the village — in our shops, our schools, childcare and eldercare facilities, and for the Village — can afford to live here.

The village gains heightened cultural and economic opportunities when artists, artisans, and young entrepreneurs can afford to call Yellow Springs home.

Many of the amenities of the village do add to the affordability. For example, it is possible to live and work in the village without a car. Villagers can take advantage of an abundance of free or very low priced cultural and educational events. The protected natural areas and bike paths offer healthful options for relaxation and exercise.

Local farms can contribute to the local food supply. The Village government has been directly or indirectly involved in supporting much of this.

The speci�c areas in which Village government can, has and should continue to support affordability include: • Allowing increased density and �exibility for housing options and economic development, as was recently done in the new zoning code.

• Supporting local economic development through such mechanisms as the Revolving Loan Fund.

• Collaborating with and/or supporting local organizations such as Community Resources (in funding the streets in the Center for Business and Education), Home, Inc. (for Community Land Trust housing and affordable rental housing) and Tecumseh Land Trust (for farmland preservation).

• Making decisions that encourage local individual initiative in housing and economic development (such as home businesses, artist initiatives and alternative housing proposals).

• Engaging in ongoing communication and collaboration with Antioch College, Antioch University, and our last major industry, Xylem (formerly YSI).

CHRISTINE MONROEBEARD

[No biographical information provided] Question responses: 1 . So that everyone is aware what is required of our Village manager, within our Yellow Springs Charter [section 31] the powers and duties of the Village manager are listed as: “(1) to see that the laws and ordinances are enforced; (2) except as herein provided, to appoint and remove all subordinate of�cers and employees of the Village, all such actions to be upon merit and �tness alone; (3) to exercise control over all departments created by the Council; (4) to make engineering and other assistance to the Planning Commission within the limits of appropriations and available funds; (5) to see that all terms and conditions imposed in favor of the Village or its inhabitants in any public utility franchise or other contract are faithfully kept and performed; (6) to attend all meetings of the Council with the right to take part in all discussions but not vote; (7) to recommend to the Council for adoption such measures as may be deemed necessary or expedient; (8) recommend to the Council annually and repeal obsolete legislative actions; (9) to keep the Council fully advised as to the �nancial conditions and needs of the Village; (10) to publish an annual report to the electorates in a form approved by Council; (11) and to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter and Council.”

With this as a guideline, I feel someone who has a strong �nancial and legal background would be best. The Village manager’s position is one com-

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prised of many hats; one must not only have working knowledge of �nance, law, business management, human resources, urban planning and public relations, but also be a good team player, have great personnel skills and be able to think on their feet. Yellow Springs has been a tough crowd in the past in regard to Village managers, and we must remember that this has to be a symbiotic relationship. Coming into a tightly woven, passionate group of 3,700 people has got to be a daunting task. I believe that Council should carefully and thoughtfully choose someone who has the best working knowledge of the aforementioned subjects as well as the personality to thrive in Yellow Springs; I also feel that this person should be able to provide invoking information to Council, be a devil’s advocate and be able to look at subjects from all angles.

When we do �nd this unique candidate we need to allow this person the room and respect to accomplish their job.

Council and the Village manager, I feel, are a check and balance team, we should rely on each other’s knowledge, expertise and ability to serve the community of Yellow Springs to the best of each one of our abilities.

2. Ideally, I would love see the water sourcing stay here in our village; what I am more interested in, however, is the affordability, reliability and quality of our water. The Spring�eld sourcing provides quality �uoride-free, sodiumsoftened water at a rate that is half of what we currently pay, Spring�eld has enough constituents at a median living wage that we could safely guess the rates will stay affordable for us. The Spring�eld connection also ensures we do not have a water emergency, like we tend to do on a fairly regular basis. The Spring�eld wells have been EPA approved and the capacity is more than adequate; the connection will be reliable for at least 100 years and will cost us about $1.8 million.

There are two scenarios for keeping Yellow Springs water sourcing: one is to do minor upgrades to the existing system which will cost a similar price tag to the water connection with Spring�eld and the estimated reliability is approximately 20 years.

The other option, which is what I feel we absolutely should do if we choose to keep our own water sourcing, is a complete rebuild of the water plant.

This would include an iron �ltration and ion exchange softening system (and manganese removal at an extra cost). And the estimated price tag would be $3.9 million for this option.

This option will provide a minimum of 40–50 years of service with minimal maintenance and operation costs.

No matter which option we choose, rates must be adjusted to keep the

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infrastructure up to the standards we deserve. There is much to weigh out with this topic and while I know the community would like to move forward with having the brown water issues remedied we must take a moment to make sure we are making the best choice for the community.

Ultimately, what I wish for the Village to provide is clean, clear, tasty water in a reliable fashion at a competitive rate.

3. I do feel it is the role of the local government to keep our community as affordable as possible. The Village government should be proactive to responsibly lessen overhead and cut costs in our local systems to make sure those savings can be passed to our residents. We have been able to ensure we have a community pool by making the concessions at the pool pro�table by which those funds support the pool, and any extra pro�t goes into our general fund. With federal and state funding being lessened, more responsibility falls on our shoulders to make sure our community thrives.

I am a supporter of the Commerce Park; I feel that focusing on the economic viability of our area will address many issues that we face. We have spoken of adding diversity and jobs to our community and needing to add to our tax base making it more affordable to our residents to live here. Finishing our Commerce Park and adding businesses that will be a comfortable �t for our town will bring a divergence of people, possibly offer jobs to our locals and add to our local tax base.

This will bring more shoppers to our downtown, making it less dependent on the seasonal tourist dollar, buyers to our housing market, more children to our schools and hopefully with that, more diversity to our community.

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mother, too. All three of us owned small bussinesses in town, and I still own No Common Scents. I was a board member for seven years with the YS Federal Credit Union. I have over 20 years experience in management and earned an associate’s degree in accounting, graduating with honors.

I have worked with several CPA’s doing payroll and of�ce managment.

Question responses: 1 . Our Village manager needs to be a people person as well has having a working knowledge of the village with the sensitivity of who lives here.

He/she also must be dedicated to the livelihood of the village and to help maintain its charm and character. I am sure it may take months for us to �nd that perfect �t. Looking for that manager will take the entire community to participate and help the Council to make a good decision for all of us.

2 . I think we should repair or build a new water plant and reinvest in our community instead of someone else’s.

I like the idea of being and staying independent. But if the community comes together and says they want to outsource our water, then that’s what I will �ght for. It’s about the people, for the people.

3 . Affordable. Whats affordable? We want what we want and we will make it happen, it’s our nature. Our local government needs to continue to improve its ef�ciency, and like dominoes, that will affect the entire community. So if that’s their role in taking part of the being affordable, I am in.

DAN REYES

PATRICIA PURDIN

I was born and raised in Yellow Springs, as was my mother, and her

My professional experience in architectural design and college teaching provides me a variety of useful skills for informed participation in Council’s work. On the practical side of my background, as a registered architect and part-time teacher of architectural design and design theory with Miami

University, I have a good basis for appreciating issues and questions concerning urban infrastructure, physical development and planning that hold relevance for the Village.

Of course, as I understand from other aspects of my experience, Village governance is not simply a technical problem, but a complex deliberative community conversation. The choices I made some time ago in my graduate studies to dedicate attentions toward issues in education and cultural studies and subsequent experience teaching in interdisciplinary humanities and philosophy at Antioch University Midwest all contribute toward my appreciation of how community conversations can work; how we might expect to produce something useful for us all through these shared engagements.

Along the way during this past decade living in the village, I have appreciated oppor tunities to put theory into practice, participating in village committees (currently Board of Zoning Appeals) and also learning some valuable lessons in nonpro�t organizing and the improvisational possibilities of community through the Nonstop Institute project.

Question responses: 1 . An ideal Village manager is an effective facilitator both of ongoing Village operations and of the initiatives of Council; entailing a necessary mix of technical, legislative and interpersonal skills. Along with these professional capabilities, some less tangible qualities may well also come signi�cantly into play with the probable success of any particular candidate. While I would argue that content is more critical than style, a sensibility about how to communicate in this community probably goes a long way to favoring a Village manager helping to facilitate productive conversations over misunderstandings.

Although Village manager voting selection responsibility rests with Council (by Village Charter), it seems to me that a successful process bene�ts through signi�cant public input.

Also, I am not convinced that reliance on outside search consultants improves the prospects of �nding a good �t; perhaps just the opposite, with the specificity of community �ltered out through that mediation of initial contact. Constructive active engagement with the creation and implementation of the search process seems a very basic requisite for the expectation of results that our community and the successful candidate can both be happy with.

While the general role and duties of the manager are delineated by charter, the relatively quick succession of recent managers suggests to me

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that the job description and speci�c contractual charge might well deserve review and discussion as we prepare to head down the road to identifying a next candidate. It is worth asking if the speci�c expectations are articulated in a way that favors what we wish to have done for us by the manager. The Village manager’s position is a challenging job in any scenario but we ought to take care that we do not de�ne it with mixed or ill-considered messages and, in a sense, unintentionally turn dif�cult into impossible.

2 . Presently, the Village awaits at least one signi�cant engineering report intended to examine options to improve the local Yellow Springs water source.

There would be something premature in of fering a definitive conclusion before seeing all of the information that we have in fact paid to have studied and presented to us. Making use of this information and becoming as knowledgeable as possible seem to me the very basic prerequisite for making major political, economic and environmental decisions on issues like this. I’ve followed much of this conversation as it has taken place over the past couple of years and I believe that my professional experience with architecture and planning offers me a very good grounding for understanding, analyzing and interpreting what is presented to the Village with issues of this kind.

A longer discussion is precluded here, but it may be fair to say that the assurance of a reliable and suitable water supply for the community is indeed a signi�cant responsibility for Council. We have some important work in front of us with these investigations and choices concerning the infrastructure and resources that our community so relies upon. I will take care to read, analyze and understand the material at hand and to listen attentively to both public commentary and the professional consultations we have engaged.

From reports received by Council to date, it is worth mentioning that the Village enjoys some extraordinary good fortune with its current well�eld; productive in its output and signi�cantly protected by its geography.

The awaited more complete picture notwithstanding, I think it is fair to say that there is some virtue in not hastily discarding what already is at hand.

If local improvements can be made viable (without creating unnecessary contractual dependencies with outside vendors and municipalities), improving what we have deserves our favorable consideration.

3 . A signi�cant part of Council’s work is to help frame our community’s discussion of important public issues in an informed, inclusive, just and honest way. It seems to me that afford-

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ability is a factor in being known as a community of economic conscience.

But it is not, as can sometimes be misconstrued, the only ingredient.

The question of affordability appears often meant to appeal to a consumer ethic of fair prices in the marketplace, which is a �ne thing but, perhaps by itself not quite suf�cient for getting at the fullest meaning of our community’s obligation in respect to economic pressures that bear more heavily on those of us with limited �nancial means.

In what has on numerous fronts been a dif�cult decade for many in our community, it seems to me that the prevention or alleviation of circumstances in which economic factors will limit or exclude living and participating in our community is a serious matter of consideration for Council.

There are a number of tangible issues that intersect on this plane that include major costs and economic factors like housing, wages, tuition, and tax structures. While Council’s role is generally not that of directly or unilaterally setting costs, some of these factors can be constructively in�uenced though local policy and Council advocacy.

Becoming a community of economic conscience seems to me a distinction worth aspiring to and a creative and plausible basis for growing and renewing ourselves in a manner that puts our best foot forward. What we gain out of resolving to imaginatively exercising conscience, we should remember, has its roots in what has made this a varied and vital community to begin with. Putting such principles forward will fortify our ability to attract both interesting new members and progressive organizations and businesses that share these values.

RICK WALKEY*

During my �rst two terms on Council, I learned a great deal about how the Village operates, the role of Coun-

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cil members as both conduits and leaders, and the importance of maintaining transparency and civility. It has also been a privilege and pleasure to work with members of Council, our staff, and the rest of the community. It is with equal parts personal satisfaction and love of my village that I offer myself up for re-election.

Question responses: 1 . The search for our next Village manager must begin with a careful delineation of the job’s expectations.

As our Council tends to be hands-on, and our citizenr y highly engaged, our manager will need to embrace and respect our distinctly democratic approach to governance. And in a village that values its employees and staff, a natural ability to communicate and lead is essential.

To identify candidates who have these skills, along with a resume of pertinent professional quali�cations, we need to reach beyond the usual venues, and include other like-minded organizations, such as institutions of higher education.

Every Council will �ne-tune their own process, but recent searches have availed themselves of outside assistance from professional staf�ng consultants through the University of Dayton. Their primary function, with direction from Council, was to do the initial outreach, vet responses for minimal quali�cations, then gather and aggregate additional data on the best �ts. These background data can include Internet searches, phone interviews with personal references, and other public documents that might be useful in learning more about a candidate.

After narrowing down the list, each �nalist is invited to spend a day in the Village touring our facilities, lunching with Council, staff and a selected group of citizens, be interviewed that afternoon by Council, and finally, meet the public in an open forum held that evening. In executive session later that evening, Council meets with the select group of citizens to share their impressions. Based on all this and additional communications from Villagers, Council now has the information it needs to make its �nal selection I believe the above outline, or something similar, will provide the most democratic process and the best candidate.

2 . Over the past year, Council has undertaken an extensive analysis of our water treatment facility. We have learned through repor ts from our Water Treatment Plant manager, commissioned engineering studies and by touring the facility, that our plant is in need of immediate attention. The

problems we currently face are due largely to long overdue maintenance.

And because some of these issues have become critical, we are considering all available options to �nd the timeliest optimal solution.

We have narrowed the choices to the three most feasible: purchasing water from Springfield, building a new plant, or refurbishing our existing facility. On the economic side, the costs of implementing either of the �rst two projects are comparable.

Option three, refurbishing our existing facility, looks to run a magnitude of order less, or one-tenth of the cost of the other two options.

Equally important in this calculus are the intangible and subjective aspects of this issue. One position speaks to the notion of retaining our local water source and the possible consequences of giving it up, which include potential health safety concerns, or future costs beyond our control. Another cohort has voiced a desire for softened water, doable by sourcing water from Spring�eld, or adding that capability in a new treatment plant.

However, local water softening is the most expensive choice, and would discharge brine into the Glen.

Purchased soft water from Spring�eld, while having no environmental impact, is one of the more costly options, and we would give up local control.

My current sense, echoed by the many villagers I’ve spoken with, is that the best alternative is to upgrade our existing plant. This option would include adding the capacity to remove manganese, the reason for our occasional brown water, and give us upwards of 20 years of additional service from our current plant, while providing us with the ability to maintain and regulate the safety of our own drinking water.

3 . The Village Charter was adopted by the citizens of Yellow Springs to promote our common welfare through the bene�ts of local self-government.

The question of affordability has to be considered in that light. However the notion of affordability remains vague, subjective, or at least relative.

One definition we hear discussed is a lack of housing options in price ranges that working people can afford. Another is the cost for the services the Village provides its citizens.

Regarding the former, and faced with trying to offset market forces with the limited resources available in a small municipality like ours, we have few options. However, this Council understands the importance of

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making our Village livable to all who need it, recognizing the richness we gain as a community when we make that possible.

This Council made a parcel of unused Village property available for modest income housing, and in so doing, included a �re safety upgrade as par t of the deal. Council also recently passed a completely revised and updated zoning ordinance that includes the potential for reduced cost housing development by allowing smaller minimum lot sizes, and smaller permitted building footprints.

As to the latter, the cost of Village services remain comparable to communities our size, a size we conscientiously choose and maintain. We maintain our own electric utility, and while the reliability and affordability of our power is exceptional, we are still able to make our power supply portfolio environmentally sustainable.

Another measure of affordability Council is able to provide: we operate our own Public Safety Department, usually unheard of in a village our size, with a capability that far exceeds anything we could outsource. Through careful oversight, we can continue to make the most ef�cient use of our limited budget.

And as our Charter mandates, these are the kinds of things we can do with local self-governance.

KAREN WINTROW*

I have lived in Yellow Springs with my husband, Ted Donnell, and our son, Lucas, for 19 years. We relocated from Dayton’s Grafton Hill neighborhood after restoring our home, drawn by the beauty, inclusiveness and sense of community that reminded us of our childhoods.

I began my community service by joining the Community Children’s Center Board soon after relocating and then served on the Antioch

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School Board for six years, three of those as president. I was elected to the Yellow Springs Chamber Board in 2005, ser ving as president for 18 months before being named the executive director in 2007, a position I continue to hold.

I was �rst elected to Village Council in 2005 and re-elected in 2009. I am seeking another term because I bring experienced, pragmatic leadership to Village Council along with the necessar y continuity and critical institutional knowledge to balance administrative changes as we tackle several major infrastructure projects in the coming years. I always consider the best interests of the entire community and look to cur rent needs as well as future opportunities in decision-making and policysetting. I’m �exible in my thinking and welcome community input. I look for ward to continuing to ser ve Yellow Springs.

1. While the operational aspects of every municipality are similar, Yellow Springs sets itself apart with community values that put people and place ahead of the bottom line. It is crucial that our new Village manager understand the values of Yellow Springs, recommend actions that respect those values and enact the policies set

by Council.

Our Village manager should value and nurture the human capital of the village including our experienced staff and our enlightened citizenr y. The input and expertise of both should be included in developing recommendations to Council and informing �nal decisions.

Management experience is critical given the size of the staff and varied responsibilities from �nance to utilities to public safety to planning.

While a degree and experience in public administration is desirable, I do not consider it mandatory, as demonstrated management skills in the private sector would provide a strong background for the position.

I would also look for a team-builder with the objective of moving employees into leadership positions. By developing talent from within with a long-term career path available, we provide staff continuity and deepen the level of institutional knowledge to support intelligent decision-making.

Finally, we are only as good as the work we do, so it is critical that we hire a person with a record of accomplishments and a demonstrated ability to get work done.

Regarding process, we should advertise the position nationally to capture talented individuals but reach out to villagers, both current and past, who would bring more local knowl-

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edge to the position. The vetting process should include Council members, the interim Village manager, staff members and citizen representatives. An open public presentation from the top candidates should be held to get input from citizens to help inform Council’s decision on the best candidate to hire.

2 . The decision on the Village water source has a greater impact than most made by elected of�cials. As a Council member, I have participated in a multi-year process to explore our options but we do not have all of the pieces necessary to make an informed decision. This is a multimillion dollar investment with many layers of consideration that must be presented in an organized fashion so that everyone has con�dence in the �nal decision.

While not de�nitive at this point because I wish to respect Council’s process, with the information currently available my preference is to retain our local water source. Providing our own utilities, including water, sewer and electric is a source of civic pride but more importantly, offers a level of control that we wouldn’t have if others were operating those utilities. Operating our utilities gives us the �exibility to set policy, develop programs and maintain operations in a manner that re�ects the values of our community.

But we must make a decision that is �scally-sound and won’t add undue �nancially burdens to businesses and residents. To maintain an affordable water system, we must encourage business and residential growth that will utilize the available capacity and increase the customer base to suppor t capital projects. In addition, whether we operate our own plant or not we will continue to operate the distribution system and there is a backlog of projects necessary to provide adequate service throughout the village that must be funded.

To maintain a safe water system, we must update, approve and actively monitor a Wellhead Protection Plan that protects our well �elds from contamination. This requires an ongoing and collaborative dialogue with property owners within the one- and �ve-year travel zones so that we can ensure that they are aware of our protocols and requirements to protect our precious water supply.

3 . I believe it is the role of local government to ser ve their citizens while maintaining the �scal health of the community. Affordability is just one aspect and it includes not only the cost of housing but of utilities, taxes, consumables and services. It is also impacted by the number and variety

of opportunities available for citizens to �nd employment or earn a living in their chosen pursuit.

By supporting business and institutional growth, we not only expand our income and property tax base but we add new utility users for our excess capacity and to spread costs.

This increases funds in the Village coffers, spreads the �nancial burden and offers the only option for reducing the tax and utility burden on citizens without reducing services. We also add new jobs that provide more opportunities for our citizens contributing to making their living situation more affordable.

Living and working locally is the best way to sustain our community, our businesses and our planet. It reduces the use of fossil fuels, provides customers for local businesses and increases available human and �nancial resources. But with limited residential real estate, it is dif�cult for folks to �nd available housing.

We have many who come to Yellow Springs to work or bring their children for open enrollment in our excellent school system who simply can’t find housing that fits their needs. More multifamily units, senior housing, starter homes and upscale options are needed to �ll this unmet need.

Infrastructure is a major resource impacting our economy. Improving and expanding it are concrete ways that government can have a role in encouraging development that will increase our economic stability and capacity. The Village can suppor t desirable growth through strategic partnerships that address the infrastructure needs of residential, institutional and business development.

BOARD OF EDUCATION There are three seats available for election on the Yellow Springs Board of Education. Each candidate would ser ve a four-year term. The News asked each candidate to submit a short biography and respond to the following questions: 1.

What do you see as the board’s role visà-vis the district’s administration and what is the process by which you would help the district meet its challenging goals over the next few years?

2.

What would be the most effective use of technology to facilitate the transition to project-based learning?

3.

What are the most important goals to meet in the �rst few years of the curriculuar transition to project-based learning (PBL)?

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ARA G. BEAL

Ara G. Beal grew up in Yellow Springs and graduated from Mills Lawn. From there, her educational path took her to Dayton, Springfield and Oxford, Ohio, and College Park, Md. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts and is currently pursuing and a master’s degree in education at Antioch Midwest. She has over a decade of teaching experience in primary, secondary and college level education. She spent two years as a librarian specializing in children’s programming with the Howard County Library System in Maryland, a library system widely recognized for its dedication to education and collaboration with schools.

Ara has worked with the youth of Yellow Springs on various stages around town since she started directing theater almost 20 years ago, including productions at the old Center Stage, YS Kids Playhouse and Yellow Springs High School, as well as local college and professional theaters.

Ara returned to Yellow Springs in 2011 to raise her son, partially because of the strength of the schools. She believes a community can really only be as strong as its schools and is passionate about playing a role in making our schools as solid and rich as they can be.

Question responses: 1. The school board has hired a superintendent and treasurer, and therefore must allow those individuals to do their jobs, while also being vigilant for issues or concerns. This is a challenging balance act. To make challenge more manageable, board members need to keep themselves informed: in changes in state and federal policy, in changes within the district, and in concerns of parents and students. While it is not the board’s position to insert itself within every relationship and every interaction, the board is responsible for managing the growth and development of the school district as a whole.

Therefore, every time there is an issue,

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concern, or con�ict, the board must remember the whole picture to have an accurate understanding of the issue.

Once there is understanding, then a decision can be made about what should be done. Should something be done? If so, what? The board and the administration should, and often do, provide different perspectives on what actions might be best. There are so many individuals who come together to create a school system. But, if there is respect among parties, collaboration is possible and some compromise should be expected.

Keeping all this in mind, the board can work with the administration to arrive at a decision about what needs to be done.

After a decision has been made, the board needs to help the administration carry that decision out. One of the frequent challenges of state mandates is they provide no funding for new procedures and policies. The board does not need to add the challenge of funding education within a district and should always be asking, ‘How are we going to pay for that?’ It should ask that of every proposal by administration as well as its own proposals. That doesn’t mean that ideas should be squelched because of price tag, but that the board has a �scal responsibility to assure sustainability.

2. The most important technology for the transition to PBL are the technologies that allow us to access information.

These include databases, websites, and, of course, books! Our students need to be comfortable writing research questions and then �nding the answers to those questions on their own. They need to be able to navigate databases, write a good search query (a deceptively dif�cult task), evaluate the sources they �nd, and then assimilate the information found in a useful way into their own learning. It seems that most important room in the school building in terms of PBL is the media center/learning commons (or library, as it used to be called). These rooms need computers that can access databases and staff that can instruct our students on how to use them. These rooms need color printers, so articles and resources can be printed and taken for more in-depth study or used in presentations. These rooms need books, good non-�ction titles that have reliable information with wonderful bibliographies that can lead inquisitive students to more books and resources.

Of course, one can spend tens of thousands of dollars on fancy machines and beautiful books, but if there is no one there to really take the time with the students to explore how to utilize these expensive purchases, then they are for naught. We need good solid staff as much as we need technology.

3. One of the most important goals as the district transitions to PBL over

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the next few years is to incorporate all of the state mandated changes. Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES), the Common Core, and the third-grade reading guarantee are just a few of the many changes coming down the pipeline. One of the things I value about our district is the balance we’ve managed to strike between mandates we can do nothing about and our own identity and unique qualities as a district. But these next few years are going to be extra tumultuous, as changes unfold both externally and internally. Some of these changes will be harmonious; the Common Core’s emphasis on depth of knowledge over breadth of knowledge works nicely with PBL. But others, like the third-grade reading guarantee will provide more of a challenge.

The board, along with the administration, needs to keep its eye on the whole picture. It cannot become myopically focused on PBL or on state mandates or on �scal concerns. It must constantly remind itself to ‘zoom out’ and be cognizant of the other pieces of the puzzle.

Another important goal is buy-in. The community must feel this is worthwhile, teachers and staff must feel this is worthwhile, and feel prepared and supported. Students must think its worthwhile and parents, as well. This is no easy task. I’ve been very impressed with how the district has implemented PBL so far. It’s provided trainings and support to teachers. It has thought about useful scheduling and other structural changes. It’s set the realistic goal of each teacher spending nine weeks on a PBL, but also realizes some may do more and some may do less. Good effort has been made on this goal, but as issues arise, and things take off, more work will need to be done to keep the support of the community at large.

STEVEN CONN

Steven Conn is a professor of history at Ohio State University where he is

also the director of the public history initiative. He has published essays on politics, culture and education in newspapers around the country and is a regular contributor to the Huf�ngton Post. Over the years he has served on a number of village and community boards and committees and he currently sits on the Yellow Springs Board of Zoning Appeals. He and his wife, professor Angela Brintlinger, moved to the village in 2004 to raise their two small children. Now those children are in 8th and 9th grade and have become very large.

1 . The role of school board members is two-fold. First, they provide governance to the superintendent and treasurer, offering guidance and advice as those administrators carry out their duties. School board members should not attempt to manage the week-to-week business of the schools.

Second, the board serves as a bridge between the schools and the wider community.

We are lucky to have a very good team in place running our schools right now. I have had the opportunity to work with several of them when I served on the hiring committee for the new McKinney social studies teacher in 2012 and when I served on the committee to write the 2020 Strategic Plan.

I believe that plan and the administrators and teachers who are now carrying it out will make our already good schools even better, and I would be excited to be a part of that transformation as a member of the board.

2 . As a teacher myself I have witnessed the arrival of technology in my own classrooms, and I have also seen its good and its bad results. I believe strongly that “high tech” needs to be balanced in equal measure by “high touch.” Clearly, however, our students will need to engage with digital technologies. The decisions about how to do that most effectively, and how to integrate technology with projectbased learning, are best left to teachers and administrators — not to board members — because they are the ones who must negotiate these tricky waters with students.

3 . As a member of the committee that wrote the 2020 Strategic Plan, I am an enthusiastic supporter of project-based learning. I believe it will turn passive learners into active ones and will make it easier for teachers to teach students across disciplines. In the �rst few years of this curricular transition, three goals strike me as important. First, teachers must feel comfortable and supported as they learn this new curriculum. Second, we want to establish some benchmarks to make sure we are achieving our desired outcomes. Third, the board

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needs to give administration the space to make some mistakes. Making this transition to a PBL curriculum isn’t going to happen all at once, nor will everything go right the �rst time. As with all important experiments, we will learn from the things that go wrong as well as from our successes.

ALLEN G. HUNT

I earned my Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Riverside, in 1983. Starting in 1980, I taught on adjunct status until 1999, except 1985–1987, which I spent in Germany on a Fulbright scholarship, 15 months study in �eld geology, and two years as post-doctoral researcher in hydrology. From 1999–2002, I was visiting faculty at Paci�c Northwest National Laboratory in climate dynamics. From 2002–2003, I was program director in hydrology at the National Science Foundation. In 2004, I came to Wright State University and, in 2007, became full professor, split between physics and geology. In 1985 and 1986, I was on the Fulbright Central Selection Committee to choose German students for study in the U.S.A. While at Riverside Community College 1997–1998, I was named “Teacher of Distinction” by the LDS student association, a recognition earned by less than 0.5 percent of the faculty. I was selected for Who’s Who Among American Teachers (2008).

This month, I will deliver my third edition of “Percolation Theory for Flow in Porous Media” to Lecture Notes in Physics, Germany. I moved with my wife, Beatrix, to Yellow Springs in 2005, when our daughter, Sanuye, was eight weeks old. I am dedicated to an excellent education.

Question responses: 1. The fundamental goal of public education is to prepare students for independent lives that contribute to humanity. The primar y role of the school board is to set policy and hire

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the superintendent and treasurer.

A board member is most effective when s/he can be an intermediary, helping communicate concerns and wishes between community, faculty, and administration. The board assists the schools wherever possible. We remember that the community ultimately holds the board accountable for the success of our students.

2 . Technology is a broad term, including, e.g., printed media, social networks, scienti�c instruments, computers, and global positioning systems.

Technological apparatus should assist each particular project, or curriculum at hand and be introduced gradually throughout the educational process.

Introducing technology for technology’s sake will not produce optimal results. It is well-known, e.g., that advantages of computers in visualization are offset by losses in reasoning.

The mission of public education must be met in context of a competitive global economy, which puts pressure on all its members to excel, and within which an increasing fraction of available jobs are related to technology, which itself is changing more rapidly than many educators, or the public, can follow. The fraction of Americans attending college remained steady since 1970 after doubling ever y 20 years since 1870, so it has been falling behind European countries the last 20 years. We should recognize that, while income is not the primary indicator of a successful life, it is the primary predictor of human longevity in our country.

All studies reveal strong correlations between lifetime income and the highest degree obtained. Furthermore, college education helps place people where they can make a difference.

The school board, in developing the 2020 plan, prioritized an emphasis on Project-Based Learning (PBL). A strong selling point of the district’s visitor from High-Tech High, whose motivation for presenting was to help our district embrace PBL, was that 100 percent of their graduates attended college. If graduation from college is indeed recognized as an ultimate goal of most of our children, then a board member who is a professional educator with a range of college and related experience is an important resource.

The value of such human resources is emphasized through implementation of PBL. PBL involves collaboration between K-12 educators and experts in a �eld, frequently university professors. University experience develops an over view of the skills, abilities, and emotional qualities that create successful college graduates. Despite in�uences from rapidly changing conditions, the fundamental skills remain: A mastery of the English language and

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mathematics, and the ability to think critically and independently. This is also universally recognized among testers/assessors, from STAR to the GRE. As a board member who is also a professor, I could help facilitate various connections between district faculty and university professors, dozens of whom live in our own community and have children attending our schools.

My volunteer work in Glen Helen geology showed where university and high school students could collaborate, e.g., using hand-coring techniques to test the hypothesis that late glacial �oods on Birch Creek dammed up Yellow Springs Creek, creating a shallow lake for 500 yards upstream from the con�uence. My interest in weather and research into climate change suggested the idea for using two inexpensive weather stations to investigate microclimatic differences between the high school and the Glen in the context of climate change.

A strength of PBL is its emphasis on getting students to work together.

However, independent critical thinking is still essential for taking advanced tests and developing cutting edge research ideas. Another positive aspect of PBL is that it empowers students in in�uencing their own curriculum as well as developing strategies to solve integrated problems. This engenders con�dence, which in turn can strengthen their work ethic. A drawback is that the core discipline, mathematics, can be neglected, leading to a lack of con�dence. Math con�dence is based on individual independent reasoning. Math might be regarded as merely a bag of tricks to be applied when and where necessar y. But modern science, including biology and geology, and modern studies of sociology, including social networks and threat networks, likewise psychology, economics, political science, energy resources and policy, and virtually every other university subject taught, are based on statistics, complexity, analysis, geometry, etc.

3 . We should recognize that neither the board nor the administration envisions full “curriculum transition to PBL.” Our district received its poorest “C” grade in value-added-learning for the lowest 20 percent. These students are thus placed at risk of developing a self-ful�lling negative self-image, and require a better support network. The critical task of PBL is to identify its optimal use in K–12 education. Optimization is dependent on many unknown inputs, so an honest self-assessment program must be implemented. PBL has been around a long time and occupies an increasing fraction of educational curriculum with the level of the student. However, a serious problem

facing college students (and colleges), evidenced by explosive growth in remedial math and writing education, is a drastic loss of mastery of these subjects by the student body. Consequently, one vital goal of PBL must be to increase our students’ competence in these core subjects, while its implementation needs to be gradual with increasing experience, maturity, and competence of the students in their progress through school.

AÏDA E. MERHEMIC*

I am 59 years old, married to Bob Barcus and the mother of Miriam Barcus (’08) who graduated from Yellow Springs High School. I am the co-owner of Yellow Springs Psychological Center and have lived in Yellow Springs for 29 years.

I’m a counselor and mediator, and have a master’s from Wright State University and a bachelor’s from Ohio State.

I’ve been a member of the school board since 2005, serving as both president and vice-president. I’ve been active in the community, having been president of the board at the Antioch School, coordinator of the Yellow Springs Aquatic Club, chair of the Village Human Relations Commission, president of the Yellow Springs High School Theater Arts Association and a member of search committees for the Yellow Springs schools and the Antioch School.

Question responses: 1 . As a board member I believe my most important responsibility is to recruit, hire, support and evaluate the superintendent and treasurer, empowering them to be the CEO and CFO and manage the daily operation of our district. When this occurs a dynamic relationship is created between the board and these administrators where the two entities are mutually supportive and can function as a collaborative team.

The superintendent in this process provides educational leadership and

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information to the board, which helps to inform the board’s decisions on policy. When this process is enabled where the board trusts the superintendent and the superintendent trusts the board, the district can thrive.

Board members are not called on to be educators but to be citizen-representatives who listen to the community and to hire expert educators to run our schools. A classic study of school governance found that a major obstacle to effective school board leadership was the tendency to micromanage by inserting themselves in day-to-day administration which should rest entirely on the superintendent. I believe that leadership does not always mean making the decisions. Leadership also means showing the way and enabling others to decide and manage.

In the spirit of building a solid and collaborative team, the board must be committed to their own professional and leadership development. I will respect the board leadership protocols as developed and established by the current board and superintendent encouraging my colleagues to do the same. The board must exhibit and model such behaviors as being respectful, collaborative, ethical and trustworthy.

As advocates for our children, �rst and foremost, we represent the interests of the entire district when making decisions as we confront the challenging and ever-changing face of our children’s education.

3 . Technology provides numerous supports for the project-based learning (PBL) model and opens possibilities of making a very large world accessible to all students. Students can make individual choices to tour a museum; become linked with another place or person; create websites, electronic music, media presentations; explore research and more, all on the Internet. Students can make individual or group choices about how to obtain information and data and how to use it. They become more actively engaged because they no longer are sitting passively.

Teachers become guides and facilitators asking the driving questions that are the genesis of the project.

Technology enables the teacher to follow students’ thinking as their work unfolds. Thus education is inherently more interactive: among students, between teachers and students, and beyond the classroom. Technology maps the progress students make which a teacher can witness in real time, intervene when appropriate, and help revise if necessary. Technology will play a signi�cant role in PBL as learning becomes more of a process than an end product.

3. The most important goal in transitioning to project-based learning will be

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to offer support and guidance to both teachers and students. Teachers will bene�t from ongoing and consistent professional development and time to meet and collaborate with one another.

Our teachers are always grateful when they have time to share ideas and plan together. Given a challenging learning curve during the transition, teachers will appreciate knowing they have the support of the principals, superintendent, board and community to explore, experiment, engage and even to fail.

The professional PBL training and consultation provided thus far was very well received by the teachers and they can anticipate more similar opportunities especially during the transition.

Students will need encouragement to shift from attending only to their learning and grade to becoming co-planners, co-creators, co-learners, and coevaluators. We must educate students to value their particular skills and help them appreciate the contribution of non-traditional ways of learning. They will need to learn to trust each other and be accountable to their peers as they each participate in the project.

There will be more ways to contribute to projects than in a standard model where everyone does the same work and takes the same test. It will virtually be a new language of learning.

As PBL is implemented teachers will play a key role in establishing a new classroom climate which encourages collaboration, communication, teamwork and trust. Teachers will be required to orient students to this new methodology, demonstrating faith in students’ capacity to search for information and knowledge. Professional training and patient support for the teachers is essential to assist them in creating this new educational culture.

EVAN SCOTT

Raised in Yellow Springs, I am a product of our public school system,

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graduating from YSHS in 1983. I am a writer by trade, graduating from Miami of Ohio in 1988, but have spent the last 20 years working in the marketing and public relations industry.

For the past �ve years, I have been an independent strategic marketing consultant — assisting and mentoring business leaders and their teams with business planning, market exploration, innovation and other business growth initiatives such as leadership development and data management.

I moved back to Yellow Springs in 2000 with my wife, Amy. We have four children, ages 18 to 7. Three of them are currently in the Yellow Springs school system. I serve as a member of the Yellow Springs Community Foundation and on the WYSO Resource Board.

Question responses: 1 . As the Ohio School Board Association suggests: the board is in charge of the “what” and the administration is in charge of the “how.” I take this to mean that the board are the stewards of the community’s vision for our children’s education. Though it has specific responsibilities to review and approve the district’s budget and employment decisions, its chief role is liaison. The board should effectively communicate our vision to the administration, oversee the administration’s execution of our goals, and communicate our progress back to the community.

As with many types of boards, it’s imperative we understand that it has no management responsibilities. The board does not run the school district; rather, it helps to lead the school district. Consistent with the OSBA’s above tenet, good leadership is the ability to inspire a team to “do the right things,” whereas good managers inspire their team to “do them right.”

No one board member has any authority to direct our school district’s administration. As a collective, however, we have the ability and the responsibility to put in place systems and tools to support the administration in meeting its goals.

As a board member I will approach my role in several ways: • Consistently ask our administrators what they need in order to be successful. It is incumbent upon the board to provide or facilitate whatever support we can to ensure the administration is well-led, well-trained, and well-equipped to succeed.

• Consistently engage our broad and diverse community to provide input as appropriate. For instance, �nance is an ongoing issue for all school districts.

Our 2020 Strategic Plan includes a focus on funding. Priority four includes objectives such as enhancing current revenue streams and developing new funding sources. This is a particular

area where the board can engage the community, which is already in the works through the current board.

• Work to establish professional management policies for the board to better collaborate with the current and future administrations. School boards are comprised of novices (I certainly am) — we don’t elect professional board members. I’d like us to establish clear, simple, and manageable ways to equip our incoming and future boards with processes and tools to ensure our long term success. Let’s do a better job of helping ourselves.

2 . I’m not sure technology usage should be one of our top priorities during this transition. Clearly, there are many good uses for computer technology to manage data once we get going. I would rather we focus on the cultural/relational transitions we will need to make — among the students, teachers, parents, administrators and the broader community.

PBL focuses on key skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and methodologies for problem-solving — that produce what I’ll term “multidimensional” learning. This will require real and meaningful culture shifts across these groups of stakeholders.

It’s a lot to ask and I’m interested in creating an environment where people feel comfortable “slogging” through the hard work of doing things differently.

Our administration and teachers need to know that we have their back.

They’re working hard to give us what we want. Teachers should not feel pressured to generate massive, elaborate projects. Rather, they can cultivate a shifted focus toward student ownership of the learning process.

This is what makes PBL exciting and bene�cial.

Once we do this — I think it will be fairly easy to identify the technologies best suited to support our district — we’ll be able to ask our administration what the teachers and students need and work toward providing those things.

3 . At the September school board meeting, Superintendent Basora outlined a couple of his initial goals, beginning with setting goals for the number of weeks in the year that teachers will incorporate PBL. He acknowledged, and I support the notion, that some teachers will exceed these goals and others will incorporate fewer weeks.

Our common focus ought to be on supporting this transition — through some simple, but particularly human conduct: encouragement, patience and understanding.

I don’t think it’s appropriate for the board to determine concrete goals without consulting administration.

This is a big deal and we ought to

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develop our priorities together (maybe this will be our own “practice what you preach” PBL assignment!). Again, I want to focus on the “what” and allow our administration to lead the “how” charge.

As a community, we’re going to be asked to become active — I mean really active — in our children’s education. I will ask the PTOs and other interested community groups and citizens to come up with speci�c ways to support this process. I’d like us to quickly identify what we mean by support and then do it.

ANGELA M. WRIGHT*

I am Angela M. Wright. I reside with my husband, David Spyridon, on State Route 370, Yellow Springs. I was born in Milan, Italy in 1951 and at the age of ten I arrived in Yellow Springs where I have lived for forty years.

I attended the Antioch School and the Yellow Springs schools. After graduation in 1970 my family moved to Italy for three years. During that time I studied the Italian language, literature, history, architecture, philosophy and art before attending Wright State University and graduating with a BA in anthropology and biology. I enrolled in medical school in Perugia, Italy, and received my MD degree and license to practice medicine in the European Union.

I was first elected to the Yellow Springs School Board in 1992 and then re-elected in 1996. After a two year break I was elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. I was on the Greene County Career Center Board in1993–1999 and 2010 to present.

In 1990–1995, I worked doing research at the Wright State Medical School, Department of Pharmacology with Dr. Robert Grubbs until family concerns took precedence. I manage family rental properties, own a music production/recording studio and care giver to sister.

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Question responses: The school board’s role is to lead collectively and collaborate with district administrators, as well as, �scal oversight and accountability in the school district’s annual budget. There are two equally important parts; one part is the spending plan for programs and services to be able to achieve our educational goals and the other part of the budget is the �nancing plan to meet the district’s expected cost for programs and services. The �nancing plan outlines the �nancial resources needed by the district. Any changes to the budget must be �rst approved by the school board. The administration and school board work together in legal leadership i.e., set policy to create the rules needed to manage the school district. We are also accountable and need to focus on policies to improve student achievement. To have a strong board /administration partnership, respect, trust, and collaboration must be all inclusive. Ever yone should contribute equally, in a well informed, respectful way to one another. We should be the model leaders for the staff, students and community. Our leadership is demonstrated when parents and community are well informed about all aspects of our school district in a transparent and open way.

1.

I envision information technology playing a very important role for both the teachers and students. The integration of PBL and instructional technology must happen for students to learn in the 21st century. Since co-operative learning is fundamental to PBL and teachers are responsible for ensuring that communication, collaboration and group dynamics takes place, technology becomes indispensable and is infused throughout the student projects. Projects are planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content while at the same time learning technological skills. Technology provides an expanded set of tools for research discussions, practice, and demonstration of subject mastery. Our teachers become facilitators and with the use of technology can meet each student at whatever level he or she may be at any given time. Teachers will no longer dispense knowledge. They will facilitate learning by guiding and monitoring the learning process with the information technology. When our students leave to either continue education or go in the workplace, information technology will be an essential tool in creating new opportunities for their future.

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3. In the next few years the school board needs to focus on student achievement, building a strong relationship among board members; leading as a united team with our administrators. As leaders we need to build a

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strong teamwork of collaboration with teachers, and the community. In addition we should establish an effective communication structure to inform parents and engage both internal and external stakeholders in achieving our district goals. Our transition from conventional teaching to PBL teaching might cause some disruption; however, we must all be supportive, patient and at the same time encouraging when things don’t go as planned. To drive continuous improvement the school board must focus on policies that will enhance student achievement, becoming data savvy and monitor data even when the information might be negative. New tools for student assessment in PBL and the use of data during our transitional years will demonstrate to the leadership our effectiveness and accomplishment. As school board leaders, we must promote independent thinking and draw out the best in each and everyone in our school district.

MIAMI TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE The Miami Township Board of Trustees has two seats available for two four-year terms. The News asked the candidates for trustee to submit a short biography and answer the following questions: 1.

What should the priorities be regarding the choice of a new �re station/township of�ce building?

2.

Now that the estate tax has ended, how important is it to the Township to fund green space preservation? How should the Township do so?

DALE AMSTUTZ

I grew up on a farm in Bath Township, graduating from Fairborn Baker

High School in 1974. I participated in 4-H for 10 years, showing registered Ayrshire cattle at the Greene County Fair, the Ohio State Fair and the National Dairy Show. I completed an associate’s degree in farm management from Southern State College in 1976. I was employed by Landmark in Xenia until enrolling at Wilmington College. In 1981, I received a Bachelor of Science in agriculture, with a minor in economics. I continued employment at Landmark, now Trupointe, until working in production agriculture at Pitstick Pork Farm in Fairborn. I am currently employed by the U.S. Postal Ser vice in Fairborn, where I have worked for 25 years. I moved to my farm in Miami Township in 1981 and raised our family here. My wife, Jan, and sons Levi and Drew and daughter Laurel call this family farm our home. I have been on the Miami Township Zoning Commission approximately 10 years.

Question responses: 1 . The potential location for a new �re station/township of�ce on Route 68 is an exciting idea. Access to a state route with side streets would make traf fic flow for emergency equipment into and out of the complex a plus.

My priorities are questions: • What will be the cost?

• How do we pay for it?

These questions require more thought: • Can we make this endeavor an income producing property to help pay for the complex? Potential shops or apartments above or behind the complex.

• Does cost restrict the potential for expansion on this parcel for our own future needs?

• During this slower economy, can the residents of Miami Township afford or support tax levies for this project?

• Are there other ways to help fund this project? Fundraisers, etc.?

I feel we need to be financially responsible. I feel we have to watch the cash �ow and how the township monies are spent.

2 . Miami Township is unique. We have supported this area and created a “rural feel” to our Township. People from distant cities enjoy visiting our area. Enjoyment from many aspects.

Scenic drives to and from Yellow Springs and Clifton, John Br yan Park, the Clifton Gorge, Clifton Mill, Young’s Dairy and the village shops.

No sur rounding township is like Miami.

There are still some federal and state programs, as well as local funding, to help fund green space preservation. We still need to promote these

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conservation efforts.

Private property rights of the stewards of our prime farm land soils (the farmer) must be protected. Conservation easements must be voluntary by land owners who want to maintain their rural lifestyle and protect areas where our children and grandchildren have an opportunity to enjoy the same lifestyle.

Farming and farming techniques may change. We are not growing any more prime farmland. The world population is expected to increase dramatically by 2050.

The Township, as a whole, can work with Tecumseh Land Trust to promote and pursue available funding.

MARK A. CROCKETT*

Mark is married to Gail Zimmerman, his wife of 48 years, and is the father of Justin and Sara and the grandfather of Lila and Eli. He is a 1966 graduate of Greenon High School, and received a Bachelor of Arts in art from Wright State University in 1974. He spent 15 years working for Cab-n-Facet as a metalsmith. He has been co-owner of Rita Caz Jewelry Studio and Gallery in Yellow Springs for 27 years, and has served as Township trustee for the last 12 years.

Question responses: 1. These points come in the talking points for the �re station location: • Easy access for community events, blood pressure checks, public education and other events.

• Needs to be a good location for fast run response time.

• Lot size needs to allow for design �exibility in building design, not only to meet the needs of the �re department. It needs to accommodate colocation of public safety partners.

2. Conservation goals as stated in the Miami Township Comprehensive Plan:

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• Wisely manage and protect the township’s ir replaceable natural resources.

• Protect existing prime farm land and sensitive land by encouraging land owners to apply for conservation easements. We have and plan on having a good relationship with the Tecumseh Land Trust. As to where we will �nd revenues to replace the estate tax I cannot say, but we will be looking for a way to continue funding easement efforts.

JOHN EASTMAN

I was born in Yellow Springs and loved growing up in the woods and �elds of rural Miami Township in the house where my mother, Billie, still lives. A 1965 graduate of Yellow Springs High School, I majored in engineering at Antioch College, where I am proud to have ser ved with Maples, the college’s volunteer �re department. Following Antioch I received environmental engineering degrees from Johns Hopkins University in 1972 and the University of Washington in 1977. After teaching engineering and engineering economics at Michigan State University for seven years, I was thrilled to return to Yellow Springs to raise my four children.

As a professional engineer with LJB Inc. for 26 years, I have been a consultant to the Village of Yellow Springs, Glen Helen, Camp Birch and Friends Care Community among other local clients. This work requires knowledge of planning, zoning, development and environmental regulations.

I enjoyed surveying with my father, Richard Eastman, throughout the township, leaving me a lasting appreciation of Clifton and eastern Miami Township.

I will be honored to represent all of Miami Township, and I am excited by the opportunity of contributing my

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engineering experience and lifelong love of the Township as your trustee.

1 . The new �re station/township building will be one of the most important major investments Miami Township will be making for a long time. The location and design of the building should serve a number of distinct functions and must do so ef�ciently and cost effectively without sacri�cing the ability to ser ve the critical missions of �re and emergency medical response. Important functions include: • Building location that provides the best emergency response times throughout the service area.

• Housing �re and EMT vehicles and other equipment ef�ciently and safely.

• Overnight accommodations for volunteer emergency staff that has them experience that their service is valued and appreciated.

• Adequate of�ce space for �rerescue staff, other township staff and trustees that provides both effective separation of critical functions while supporting a high level of communication.

• Flexible meeting space designed to accommodate a range of activities including training for �re-rescue personnel, Township trustee meetings and public use by the township community.

• Providing improved capacity to serve the rural parts of the township in the facility.

• Site layout that promotes ef�cient vehicle movement, integrates with the surrounding neighborhoods and properly manages storm water to prevent negative downstream impacts.

A key priority is maximizing functionality while containing costs.

Being successful will require a combination of creativity, capacity for listening and ability to make dif�cult decisions. As an engineer with over 35 years of professional experience, and with a life-long connection to Miami Township, I bring a unique set of quali�cations that will support this process. The choices made in designing this facility will have a long term impact on many aspects of the Township operations and �nances. I will be listening to and working with all stake holders.

Recruitment and retention of quality volunteer Fire-Rescue personnel is a high Township priority. Involvement of both the paid and volunteer staff in the design process will result in a better facility, and will serve as an important recruitment tool. What a rare opportunity for volunteers to actively participate in designing the facility they will be using for a long

time! With my engineering background and volunteer �re experience, I will bring important skills to the selection process for an architect, and will be in an excellent position to interface between the architect and various constituencies.

I am excited for the opportunity to contribute my demonstrated capacity for listening to all stake holders and my ability for bridging multiple interests. I believe this value for deep listening will serve the Township well in the planning, design and implementation of a new Township multipurpose facility.

2 . Both the unincorporated parts of the township and the Village of Yellow Springs care deeply about preservation of rural farm land and other open space. Miami Township has been blessed with John Br yan State Park, Clifton Gorge and Glen Helen, and with the extensive activities of the Tecumseh Land Trust that have resulted in many acres of preserved farmland. Currently about 27 percent of Miami Township land is in some form of open space protection.

Continuing to preser ve additional farmland and stream corridors for future generations is important for maintaining the rural character of Miami Township.

With the loss of the estate tax, the historic funding method by which Miami Township has supported open space preservation is gone. Unfortunately, the estate tax is not the only loss of revenue, as the township’s income from Ohio’s Small Government Fund has also been reduced.

Therefore, the trustees face dif ficult choices while addressing basic requirements for maintenance and snow removal on township roads that are essential for many rural residents.

Township cemeteries must also be maintained.

All this means that funding all Township activities including additional green space preservation will require creativity. I support the use of Cooperative Economic Development Agreements (CEDAs) that benefit the budgets of both Miami Township and the Village of Yellow Springs. At the present time encouraging new businesses to locate in the Center for Business and Education will provide additional revenue without raising tax rates. Setting aside a percentage of new revenue from CEDAs is a possible funding source for green space preservation.

As a Township trustee, I am con�dent in my ability to bring my technical expertise and facilitation capacities to �nding win/win solutions that honor the values of all the constituencies in Miami Township.

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DONALD H. HOLLISTER

Don Hollister has been active in local civic affairs for over 40 years, serving as a Yellow Springs plan commissioner from 1974–77 and Village Council member from 1993–99. Other roles have included Interim Director of Glen Helen Nature Preserve, Chamber of Commerce President, Tecumseh Land Trust board, Friends Care Center board, YS Home, Inc. board. In 1972, he chaired the Commerical Areas Planning Task Force that recommended that future retail development be in one downtown rather than on the edges of town. Hollister has been active in state politics, serving on Ohio Governor Celeste’s policy staff 1984-86 and as a candidate for US Congress, State Representative and County Commission during the 1980’s. He was Democratic Party Greene County Chairman and served on the county Board of Elections 20042012. Hollister currently works as executive director of the Ohio League of Conservation Voters.

Question responses: 1. Step one: Con�rm or update the original needs assessment that called for a new �re station.

Step two: Secure land in central location. The proposed use of the former Wright State Family Medical Center on Xenia Avenue sounds good.

Step three: Assure community engagement in our planning. The Township has been very noncontroversial, so our Trustees are used to doing business without a lot of citizen attention.

Step four: Consider other partners for site development. This could be an opportunity for collaboration and cost sharing with a service oriented development partner. I have heard a range of partner suggestions, including: a medical clinic, senior housing, a new police substation.

Step �ve: Building design should consider long term maintenance costs

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and energy ef�ciency. I would favor spending more now for a building that would cost less on an annual basis.

Step six: Landscape to blend into the neighborhood, rather than to satisfy an architect’s inspiration.

2. The best way to preserve open space is to support our area farmers.

Although I have been a strong supporter of green space preservation, I see the Township’s priority as �nding money for a new �re station. I would consider saving the �nal estate tax revenues (apparently, there are still estates being settled that will pay the tax) in a green space fund.

Some townships have a park district funded by a property tax levy. Miami Township may want to consider that in the future, but I am �rst concerned about assuring adequate physical facilities for our current quality �re and emergency medical services.

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and having a good �re department to serve their emergency needs. The upkeep of the cemeteries is third for all the loved ones that have passed away. With the loss of the estate tax, it would be hard to fund the green space preservation with tax dollars and explain why with tightening budgets that it would be a good thing for the whole township. The township could help those involved in the green space preservation promote and support fundraisers to raise money for the preser vation without using tax dollars.

JOHN A. STRUEWING

STEVE McFARLAND

McFarland was mayor of Clifton 1988–2012. Clifton’s government runs by standard Ohio Revised Code, where the mayor presides over and is part of Council meetings. He has worked with Greene County Regional Planning and Greene and Clark County Combined Health District DAC. He has also been a volunteer with Miami Township FireRescue since 1999, and a member of the Clifton Zoning Board since 2012.

Question responses: 1. Try to �nd the best location to serve all of the residents of the township. Of the locations found, only the one at Xenia Avenue and Herman is currently feasible. Due to issues with the current �re house, it would be a waste of tax payers’ money to try to renovate the current station and bring it up to NFPA standards.

2 . First the roadways and Fire Dept. are the top two priorities for the township. To help all residents to be able to drive around on decent roads

John Struewing is a third generation resident of Miami Township. He operated as a builder for the past 31 years, the �rst 14 years as a general contractor in Redwood City, Calif., and the past 17 years as a builder in the Yellow Springs area.

He graduated from Yellow Spring High School in 1969 and studied at Foothill College, San Jose State and Ohio State University thr u 1975.

Struewing is currently completing 15 years as the township representative to the Yellow Springs Planning Commission. Additionally, he served �ve years as a Miami Township Zoning Commissioner. Struewing also worked on the Springfield-Beckley Airport Zoning Board, the YS Electric Task Force is an original founding member of the YS Bicycle Enhancement Committee and is a Yellow Springs/Miami Township Visioning Steering Committee member.

Question responses: 1 . It should be obvious to everyone that Miami Township Fire-Rescue has outgrown their current facility. Built 50 years ago, it was designed for a small, all-volunteer Fire/EMS squad.

Today and into the future, we have a combination of full-time, part-time, on call and volunteer staff. We are short

on space for these personnel to work, train and even park.

As far as priorities for a new location, we should develop a site and facility that allows us to maintain our consistently excellent service to the community. That means choosing a location and building that helps keep response times low and provides for conventional training as well as high tech training. Currently there is one rather small meeting room that is shared by Fire/EMS service, Township government including trustees, Zoning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. There is no storage space for the increasingly high tech training devices that are needed by our members.

In the future we will need additional space for emergency vehicles. At this point in time there are vehicles that share space in the station. As more personnel are using the station, we must have a system to ventilate exhaust gases from the station ef�ciently and quickly. The existing building does not provide for this function. Our priorities should be as follows: 1 . Safety of the squad in light of future changes.

2 . Additional space for future training Fire/Rescue and EMS staff and volunteers.

3 . Need for space to accommodate future demands of personnel.

4. Need for additional, well ventilated space for future equipment needs.

While the Township is in discussions with Wright State regarding the property on Xenia Avenue, I think it is important for the Township trustees to engage the local residents that may be effected by our locating the �re station on that site.

2 . Miami Township has been a leader in the area in the effort to preserve farmland and green space.

Miami Township government has committed hundreds of thousands of dollars in par tnership with the Tecumseh Land Trust to obtain just under 2,000 acres of productive farm land conservation easements. Unfortunately, one of our best assets in that effort, funds from the estate tax, has been eliminated. Our typical annual funding pays for the ongoing road maintenance, snow plowing, mowing, cemetery maintenance, etc., but the estate provided a source of revenue that could be allocated to green space preservation. Regardless of that loss of funding, Miami Township must maintain its commitment to farmland preservation within Miami Township by actively encouraging anyone in business, and lifestyle of agriculture to consider donating conservation easements with the Land Trust.

The Miami Township Zoning is cur-

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rently in the process of updating the Township Zoning Code to re�ect the commitment to agriculture as articulated in the newly adopted Miami Township Comprehensive Land Use Plan. I would encourage the Commission to recommend an Agricultural District that further protects agriculture in Miami Township.

Yellow Springs is about to implement a new Village Zoning Code designed to provide for more housing opportunities for the local population. This also can be seen as an effort to take pressure off the agricultural areas of the township to maintain the open area of the Township.

A joint comprehensive plan between Yellow Springs and Miami Township would be an ideal method to insure cooperation to preserve farmland and green space. This idea has come out of the recent “visioning” process and should be encouraged.

ZO VAN EATONMEISTER

Twice I have owned and operated my own small businesses. I had a psychotherapy practice near Seattle for a decade. Prior to graduate school, I was sole proprietor of Zo Van Eaton Jewelry Design for 13 years, which I began in Yellow Springs.

I taught graduate courses at Antioch Seattle in psychotherapy, group dynamics and art therapy. I worked in mental health court and family law. Before that, I specialized in crisis intervention as a county designated mental health professional.

I earned my master’s degree from the College of Notre Dame near San Francisco, and interned at a psychiatric hospital under the supervision of an expert art therapy clinician. Post-graduate studies took me to Portland, Ore. I completed my bachelor’s degree at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., where I met my hus-

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band, David Meister. He is currently a Yellow Springs police of�cer and volunteer EMT for Miami Township.

I graduated from YSHS in 1985.

In 1976 my grandparents retired to the family farm just outside of Miami Township on Clifton Road, which is when I started spending summers in and around Yellow Springs.

In 2009, we moved back to the village to raise our children here.

Question responses: 1. One of the top priorities in deciding on a new fire station/township of�ce building should be considering a public health and safety building that is a shared operation with the Yellow Springs Police Department.

Just as the current �re station/township of�ce building does not meet the current and future needs of the Miami Township Fire-Rescue, the current location of the police department falls short as well. For instance, there is no holding cell for a person under arrest.

Combining operations into a Village safety department could be bene�cial on many levels. Housing it all under one roof could improve the delivery of services to the community overall and the shared operational expenses could make a tremendous impact on a budgetary level.

Another extr emely impor tant factor to consider, that is already being addressed, is that in order to best meet the current and future needs of our community safety, a building would need to be either totally remodeled or a new structure entirely. Given the limited choices of current buildings in the township, a new building is more than likely going to make the most sense. The vacant lot on Xenia Avenue between Marshall and Herman streets that is presently under negotiations with Wright State University would be an excellent location. It is both central and out of the way of the downtown traf fic that gets quite congested during the busiest weekends and major events like Street Fair. Careful consideration needs to be given to the relocation of all emergency services for the potential of decreasing response times and any other possible improvements.

2 . Green space preser vation is always of the utmost importance to Miami Township and the people in the surrounding area. Preser vation is essential for green space as well as farmland and the structures that reside in our landscape. As we need to take cautious and careful consideration of all growth and development, we cannot take for granted the current beauty that surrounds us.

We live in such simple, natural wonder in Miami Township. Maintain-

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ing our midwestern farmland, the forests and the structures that are built is essential in keeping the land what it is now and what it has been historically for our future generations. Of course there are many expenses entailed here, and with the estate tax no longer generating that revenue, one way for Miami Township to fund the costs related to preservation is through writing grant proposals for federal, state, county and even private funding.

Writing grant proposals and seeing them get successfully funded should be an absolute top priority to the Township trustees to avoid new taxes or increases. Grant writing is something that I have both experience with and a strong desire to do professionally to bene�t the community for generations to come.

Preservation is one of the issues that I am the most passionate about and what motivates me to run for the Miami Township trustee seat. Public health and safety are paramount as well, along with sound �scal operations.

YELLOW SPRINGS MAYOR The of�ce of Yellow Springs mayor is a two-year term. The News asked the candidate to submit a short biography and respond to the following questions: 1 . What is your �rst priority in running the Mayor’s Court?

2 . How has your experience in the job changed your approach to it?

DAVID H. FOUBERT*

For the past six years, I have been the principal of Fouber t Consulting, LLC, and was vice-president of

development for Otterbein Homes for 10 years. I worked as a fundraiser for Antioch College for eight years. I earned a bachelor of arts degree from Beloit College, a master of divinity degree from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a doctor of ministry degree at McCormick, and have served as pastor for the Presbyterian Church for 42 years.

I have been the mayor of Yellow Springs for 20 years, while ful�lling Ohio Municipal League courses in general law and DUI. I have served as president of the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce, a caseworker for the Magistrates Court, volunteer probation of�cer and jail chaplain.

As mayor, I have worked with Save the Farm, the Village Mediation Program, AACW, Yellow Springs Schools, United Way, and the National Issues Forum (young people and values). I have also consulted or volunteered with Yellow Springs Endowment for Education, Senior Citizens, Friends Care Center, Antioch School, Central Chapel AME Church, Glen Helen, First Presbyterian Church and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.

Question responses: 1 . As a member of the Yellow Springs community I believe the mayor needs to operate in a professional, unbiased manner re�ecting the values of our community of acceptance, openness and tolerance. It is my responsibility to listen to both sides of a case and come to a conclusion based on the facts with a sense of compassion for and understanding of the people involved. Justice must be fair and impartial. Mayor’s Court is our community court. Local in nature, I have always tried to run the court in such a way that all who come before me are heard and where justice is dispensed with honesty, integrity and adherence to the standards of our community.

2 . Let me �rst say what has not changed: my love of the community I serve, my understanding of the Yellow Springs Mayor’s Court as a community court, my unwavering desire to maintain the values of our community and the opportunity I have to provide a positive experience for all who come in contact with the justice system in Mayor’s Court.

Originally, I thought I would serve for a few years and go on to do something else in the community. However, over the years people have continued to encourage me to keep serving as mayor. A Yellow Springs Blog’s editorial about my work this summer touched me deeply. I am truly humbled by all of the kind words of my fellow villagers.

T wo things have changed my approach to the court operations. First

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is the overwhelming bureaucracy of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It takes forever to get a simple issue straightened out. Therefore, I have worked with people who have come in front of me for literally months to correct errors made by the bureau or by people who are not able to understand the complexities of the system and have given up. My goal is to have people licensed, insured and registered. I have become more understanding of people’s troubles in dealing with the bureau. I have also become understanding in these hard economic times that people make choices between food on the table and insurance for the car. This court works with them to get them legally back on the road.

Second, the whole drug scene has changed in the last 20 years. Today, there is no victimless crime. Cartels from other countries are active in Ohio. We are not immune to the violence perpetrated from those outside our community. I commend our local police department and the Greene County task force for helping to keep our community and Greene County a safer place for all of us to live.

My gratitude goes out to all of you who have given me the opportunity to serve Yellow Springs over the last 20 years.

C L I P ’ N ’ S AV E

REMEMBER, the

POLLING LOCATION for the 2013 elections is at

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY MIDWEST Located at the northwest edge of the village, across from the high school’s Morgan Field at 900 Dayton Street 769-1818

PARKING is AVAILABLE

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vote in the Multipurpose Room at Antioch University Midwest.

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YELLOW SPRINGS PRECINCTS AND POLLING LOCATION

MAP COURTESY OF GREENE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS

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