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