February 10, 2011
Schonhardt unopposed in GOP primary 5 file for 3 seats on city council By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Mayor Don Schonhardt will be unopposed, five candidates will be running for three city council seats and the school levy will be on the spring ballot, accord-
ing to the Franklin County Board of Elections. Schonhardt, a Republican, said he wasn’t sure if he would face any partisan opposition for the priDon Schonhardt mary on May 3. “One never knows what to expect, but I was certainly hopeful that the job I had done here in the city of Hilliard was one
that most people agreed was one that afforded me an opportunity to continue to serve the citizens,” Schonhardt said. Schonhardt, 60, is seeking his third term as Hilliard’s mayor. He said he ran unopposed the second time, and likes not having to campaign. “It allows me to concentrate on the things that I think people expect me to, and that’s providing quality government services that we do provide here in Hilliard. It’s nice not to have to be concerned about
that and concentrate on the more important issues at hand that we’re facing with the economy and budget.” Schonhardt said his accounting and consulting firm, Donald J. Schonhardt and Associates, Inc., will continue to stay in business if he is re-elected. “I wouldn’t have filed to run had I not met with my staff there and made sure that people who I have entrusted to keep the business operating in my absence were willing to do so, and they continue
to be supportive of my candidacy. I’m blessed with good people.” Two incumbents and three newcomers, all Republicans, are vying for the three seats on city council. Albert J. Iosue and John W. Uttley III are the incumbents whose terms are up, and councilman Tim Roberts recently decided not to run for re-election. Uttley, a former councilman who left the office when his term expired, See BALLOT, page A6
Council to vote on mayor’s veto Feb. 14 By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
The Ulloa sisters, Cintia Ulloa-Hays (left), Tania Ulloa-Malavé and Ariana Ulloa-Olavarrieta, run Bébo Organics, a baby food business. They have been making and selling all nine flavors of the stage three and four baby food.
Organic baby food a hit for Bébo By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers Necessity might be the mother of invention, and three sisters’Hilliardbased baby food business was born out of a mother’s need. “My son got to the point where he didn’t like the foods that I was picking up at the grocery store,” said Cintia Ulloa-Hays. “I started making my own and he was eating those pretty well. At the day care center, the other moms liked the food that I was sending over with my son to eat, and I started selling things.” Cintia and her sisters,Ariana UlloaOlavarrieta and Tania Ulloa-Malavé, have young children and day jobs, and they reasoned if other moms are having similar trouble feeding their babies, perhaps they should go into business together. “We couldn’t have had better partners,” Cintia said. “Ariana is the business mind, I’m more of the opera-
tions person and then we have our designer Tania. So we make a good team.” Bébo Organics went into business last August, with its products being sold at the Worthington Farmers Market. They will be at the fifth annual Baby Bonanza and Kids Expo on Sunday, March 27 at the Aladdin Shrine Event Center. And the sisters
recently launched a website, www. beboorganics.com, on Facebook and are taking orders. About the name: Bébo (pronounced BAY-boh) is a Spanish term of endearment for a baby. The sisters make nine baby food products — five in stage three (sweet potato chicken delight, black bean sweet potato blend, harvest turkey
stew, mango tango puree, appleberry blast) and four in stage four (grandma’s noodle soup, chunky beef with veggies, creamy chicken bisque, perfect peach puree). Each container costs $2.50. Cintia explained the four stages of baby food. One is single-ingredient items that can be drunk through a straw; stage two is similar, but a blend of ingredients; stage three is a little chunkier; and stage four is extra chunky, a bridge between baby and adult food. Bébo Organics’products are made in a commercial kitchen in Athens. After simmering the all-organic ingredients at low temperatures, they are flash-frozen to preserve vitamins and nutrients. “A lot of the containers that you buy at the grocery store are shelf stable, so they can sit right on the shelf without refrigeration for about a year,” See BÉBO, page A6
Monday’s Hilliard City Council meeting will determine the fate of Don Schonhardt’s first veto in his two terms as mayor. Schonhardt has announced his intent to veto an ordinance approved by council on Jan. 11 that changes the percentage of the 6-percent hotel/motel bed tax that would go to Destination Hilliard, a convention and visitor’s bureau, from 25-percent to 50-percent. The other 50-percent would be placed in the city’s general fund. Among other things, Schonhardt wrote, “we deem passage of this legislation fiscally reckless given uncertainties about how the Governor and State Legislature will resolve a projected $8-billion state budget deficit.” Schonhardt’s letter to council president Brett Sciotto was dated Jan. 17, and the matter couldn’t be taken up by council until 10 days after the letter. Near the end of the last council meeting on Jan. 24, Councilman Tim Roberts presented an alternative ordi- Brett Sciotto nance, which calls for a grant of $65,000 from the city’s general fund to Destination Hilliard. As a requirement of the funding, Destination Hilliard would report to council on a quarterly basis on its activities and the use of the funding. The ordinance would be in effect only if coun- Tim Roberts cil did not override the veto. “Tim had talked to me about it previously and asked if that was something that I could support,” Schonhardt said. “Based upon his inclusion of provisions that require ongoing accountability, I felt like it was a reasonable compromise, something that made sense for the citizens of Hilliard, so I told him I was fine with that.” Council originally approved the bed tax ordinance by a 5-2 vote with Roberts and Stephanie Kunze casting the no votes. The same margin is required to override Schonhardt’s veto. Stephanie “In my communications to Kunze See COUNCIL TO VOTE, page A2
Hilliard moves quickly to buy Ice storm a major topic additional rock salt for roads for township meeting By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Hilliard’s city planning, projects and service committee forwarded nine pieces of legislation to city council with positive recommendations at its Feb. 7 meeting, including the emergency purchase of additional salt. Director of public service Clyde Seidle said Hilliard has had “24 snow and ice events since December,” including last week’s storm. Concern for having enough salt reserves to last the rest of the winter led to both an ordinance and
a resolution approving the purchase of rock salt on the committee’s agenda. The committee rolled the resolution into the ordinance, which could receive emergency passage at its first reading, so there won’t be a salt shortage in the event of more winter weather. Committee member Albert Iosue commended the administration for taking action to ensure citizens’ safety. However, he said, “I’m not a fan of passing things by first reading.” The increased application of rock salt and snow plowing has also increased fuel consumption for the city’s fleet of
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vehicles. “We fortunately have a large (gas) tank,” Seidle said. The CPPS committee forwarded a resolution to purchase fuels through the Franklin County Cooperative purchasing program. A resolution was also forwarded for maintenance agreements with Germain Ford and Hilliard Farm and Fleet. Prior to the salt legislation, the committee forwarded an ordinance to council accepting the application for annexation of 21.43 acres in Brown Township to Hilliard on behalf of owner See HILLIARD MOVES, page A2
By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspaperss
Last week’s ice storm and the fire dispatching contract were among items the Norwich Township trustees discussed at a Feb. 7 meeting. “It was interesting,” road superintendent Steve Montgomery said of the storm, which caused many power outages. “I’ve never seen so many transformers spark and burn. You have to cut limbs to get trucks under it, but it’s one of those events.”
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“It almost looked like lightning at my house,” said trustee Mike Cope. He asked Montgomery about tree-limb cleanup. “Everything that hangs near the edge of the road and was blocking people’s driveways was cut down on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 2-3),” Montgomery said. Trustee Chuck Buck talked about broken tree limbs causing power outages to residences on Schirtzinger Rd. See ICE STORM, page A2
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