June 9, 2011
Police officers consider joining union By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers New Albany will know by next week if its police officers want to be represented by a union for contract negotiations. The State Employee Relations Board (SERB) mailed out ballots June 3 and the results are expected to be made public Monday, June 13, said Jason Pappas,
executive vice president of the Capital City Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge No. 9. The vote requires a simple majority of the officers — 50 percent plus one, Pappas said — to request representation by the FOP. New Albany Police Chief Mark Chaney said the vote is considered to be 50 percent plus one because it is based on the number of votes, not the number of eligible votes. New Albany has 12
officers eligible to vote, so 50 percent plus one would be 7 if all 12 officers vote. If only 10 vote, 50 percent plus one would be 6, Chaney said. Since New Albany officially became a city in April, employees legally may join unions. State law does not allow village employees to unionize. So far, the city has received notification from SERB that the police department is the only organization that is vot-
ing to unionize, said Scott McAfee, the city’s communications director. Chaney said the city had anticipated some union organization and he would encourage his officers to vote on important decisions. “I would not discourage any employee from voting on important issues such as representation,” he said. In 2010, the United Steelworkers of America attempted to interest service
department employees in unionizing, but the process was halted by the state because New Albany was still a village at the time, said city administrator Joseph Stefanov in January. The service department employees currently have made no announcement on whether they are still interested in joining a union. See UNION, page A8
Parks and trails
Advisory board OKs West Nine project By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
The valedictorians for the New Albany High School class of 2011 were (front row, from left) Nadeem Khan, William Gleason, Clark Hillenbrand, Bryant Bednarek, (second row, from left) Emily Moore, Ellen Waddell, Elizabeth Aurand, Amanda Poll, (third row, from left) Kellie Fitzgerald, Franciska Mandy, Fanni Mandy, Emily Fox, Abigail Mackey, Sarah Makowski, Shara Ogg, Lisa Alas, Darcy Doran-Myers and Meghan Buell. Not pictured is Blake Taneff.
The parks and trails advisory board agreed June 6 that the New Albany Co.’s proposed housing development on the “West Nine” holes of the New Albany Country Club golf course has appropriate parks and trails. The advisory board made a motion recommending that city council approve the final development plan for the project. The board included one condition: The leisure trail should be extended through the housing development to connect with developments to the south. “The leisure trail ends at the sidewalk at the roundabout,” said Kathryn Meyer, deputy development director. “The (New Albany) planning commission recommended the leisure trail continue to follow the road through there and would eventually hook to Thompson Road through a development to the south.” The West Nine development would be built southeast of Clivdon Mews and would conSee WEST NINE, page A2
19 valedictorians lead class of 2011 City could By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Many of New Albany High School’s 19 valedictorians said their school provided them with a good education and they praised the faculty during commencement practice June 3. Commencement was June 5. Students who achieve higher than a 4.0 gradepoint average are designated as valedictorians, said Jeff Warner, communications director. Students may earn higher than a 4.0 by taking Advanced Placement classes, which are weighted for more points than regular classes.
Valedictorians for the class of 2011 were: • Lisa Alas, who plans to study business at Miami University. • Elizabeth Aurand, who plans to study chemistry at Boston University. • Bryant Bednarek, who plans to play football and study economics at Davidson College in North Carolina. • Meghan Buell, who plans to play tennis and study marketing at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. • Darcy Doran-Myers, who plans to study zoology at The Ohio State University. • Kellie Fitzgerald, who plans to study busi-
ness at Ohio State. • Emily Fox, who plans to attend Ohio State. • William Gleason, who plans to attend DePaul University in Chicago. • Clark Hillenbrand, who plans to study finance at the University of Richmond in Virginia. • Nadeem Khan, who plans to study business at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. • Abigail Mackey, who plans to study agriculture at North Carolina State University. • Sarah Makowski, who plans to study early childhood education at Ohio State. See VALEDICTORIANS, page A2
NAHS principal praises graduating seniors By LORI WINCE The students in the class, which ThisWeek Community Newspapers graduated June 5, were kindergartners when he joined the district as The New Albany High School the high school’s dean of students. class of 2011 will hold a special place Stranges said they had similar in principal Ric Stranges’ heart. paths and the commencement cere“This class of 2011 and I entered mony was the culmination of their New Albany at the same time 12 learning journey. years ago,” Stranges said. He said for him personally, the
class was ranked No. 1 academically, athletically and socially compared to his other classes. He called them “very, very memorable.” Many of the class members achieved academic and athletic success. There were 19 valedictorians this year, who achieved a gradepoint average higher than 4.0. Also,
the boys high school football, basketball and baseball teams all enjoyed success this school year and other teams and individual players also excelled and received state accolades. “They were a gift to the school See PRINCIPAL, page A2
file insurance claim for new police dog By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers The New Albany Police Department is considering ways to replace Bungee, its police dog that was killed in an accident May 25. “Bungee was, in fact, insured and, as a result, we have got to submit a claim,” said Police Chief Mark Chaney. “We’re working with the insurance company to submit a claim for the cost of acquiring and training another canine.” According to the department, the door on officer Joel Strahler’s cruiser malfunctioned May 25, opening without Strahler’s initiation and allowing Bungee to leap out of the car and into the path of oncoming traffic on U.S. Route 62. Sgt. Greg Jones previously said police dogs See POLICE DOG, page A7
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