June 23 2011
Safety committee
Police eye grant to pay for 2012 overtime By DAVID S. OWEN ThisWeek Community Newspapers Reynoldsburg City Council’s safety committee approved a request Monday from Police Chief Dave Suciu to apply for a 2011 Edwin Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG). The request will be forwarded to the full council as emergency legislation to be acted on next Monday, June 27. If
approved, Suciu will ask for a $10,848 grant to be used for special patrol overtime in 2012. Suciu said the money is issued by the Franklin County Department of Homeland Security and the application needs to be filed no later than June 30. Unlike previous years, Suciu said a public hearing must be held as part of the application approval process. That hearing is set for 7 p.m., Monday, June
27, in council chambers at City Hall, 7232 E. Main St. Suciu said the money is used for overtime and special projects. The number of violent crimes committed in a community is taken into account when the grants are awarded, he said. The city of Columbus is eligible to apply for $325,872.90 in grant money and the city of Whitehall can ask for $22,340, he said.
“It’s based on Part 1 crimes, or serious crimes — murder, rape … The more numbers they have in those sections, the more money they’re going to get,” Suciu said. He said the police department has been awarded the grant money in the past. “We identify areas that where we need some additional enforcement and we use that money to pay the overtime for the officers to try and reduce crime, and
that is what the money is for,” Suciu said. “The only way to do it is bring in an officer on overtime, and of course, the city is hurting for money, so this is kind of a win-win for us, if we get it,” he said. In 2009, the department was awarded $13,964 from the JAG program to be used in 2010. Lt. Scott McKinley said See POLICE EYE GRANT, page A6
Ad hoc
PIONEER DAYS
Group seeks salary, benefits comparison By DAVID S. OWEN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
ing with various computer consulting and computer security firms. Since the beginning of this year, he has been with KeyTel Systems, the company the city uses on a contractual basis for its IT maintenance and general technology help. Teeters said working with KeyTel Systems provided him the opportunity to get to know city staff members and become familiar with the systems they use. “It’s a great bunch of people to work with, and I get to work with computers, which I thoroughly enjoy, and I get to find new and creative ways
The ad hoc committee named to examine Reynoldsburg’s finances is continuing to dig for ways to cut the city’s expenses and increase revenue. The group meets at 9 a.m. every Wednesday in city council chambers to search for ways Reynoldsburg can make up a projected $1.7 million it could lose in the next four years under provisions of a state budget proposal now making its way through the Ohio General Assembly. After their final meeting on July 6, committee members will make recommendations to city council on July 11. At its June 15 session, the five-member ad hoc group asked city auditor Richard Harris about Reynoldsburg’s expenses, including employee benefits, and how it compares to other communities. Chairman Brad Sprague asked if the city has ever done a formal or informal study comparing its level of benefits to those in similar municipalities. Harris said the last study, completed six or seven years ago, found the city was below average for central Ohio in regard to salaries and benefits, including the kinds of benefits offered. Committee member Linda Smith asked if Harris could provide comparison information in the future on how Reynoldsburg stacks up against other cities when it comes to salaries and benefits. Harris said city employees currently pay 12 percent of the cost of health insurance while the city picks up the remaining 88 percent. He was asked whether the city has considered raising employee contributions, but Harris said doing so would not be significant enough to make up the projected loss of $1.7 million over the next four years. “If you’re talking about people paying 15 percent, well, that’s going to bring in about $40,000 a year. That’s not going to make up $1.7 million,” he said. Sprague suggested the overall employee compensation package might need to be evaluated
See CITY’S IT NEEDS, page A6
See AD HOC GROUP, page A2
By Andrea Kjerrumgaard/ThisWeek
Livingston House Society president Art Jacob isn’t so sure about 10-year-old Dillon Fye’s efforts to work the one-man saw that was available to try out at the Livingston House’s Pioneer Days event June 18. The event included a variety of activities and demonstrations that simulated life in the 1860s.
Teeters hired to oversee city’s IT needs By DAVID S. OWEN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Reynoldsburg City Council has approved Mayor Brad McCloud’s appointment of Scott Teeters as the city’s new IT director, effective June 7. His annual base salary will be $62,000, not including full benefits, which will be an additional $26,000 annually. A native of Washington Court House now living in Blacklick, Teeters, 41, is married, with two children. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from DeVry Institute of Tech-
nology in 2000. His responsibilities in Reynoldsburg will be mainly to maintain and manage its computer and information systems. His duties also include police department computers, except for the online LEADS system, Scott Teeters which is managed by the state. Teeters said he became interested in computer systems and related technology because he has always been a problem-solver and always liked technology and the two seemed to go together. After graduating in 2000 he spent time work-
Martindale named K-4 STEM school principal By DAVID S. OWEN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Deanna (Dee) Martindale will be principal of Reynoldsburg’s K4 STEM school of choice at Summit Road Elementary when it opens this fall. The school has been under construction for almost two years. Her base salary as principal will be a one-year contract at $80,000, not including benefits.
Martindale has coordinated the district’s K-8 STEM (science, technology, engineering and Deanna (Dee) mathematics) initiatives and Martindale two years of planning for the new elementary school. In addition, she facilitated the
DIRECTORY News: (740) 888-6100 editorial@thisweeknews.com
development and implementation of Reynoldsburg’s STEM Program of Excellence, a districtwide third-grade study of natural and manufactured water systems focusing on the Blacklick Creek watershed. “Dee Martindale has demonstrated the sharp and energetic leadership that will make the Summit Road STEM Elementary stand out By Andrea Kjerrumgaard/ThisWeek
See MARTINDALE, page A6 Construction of the K-4 STEM school at Summit Road Elementary School is nearing completion.
Arts, eats and fun in central Ohio
food and wine expand your tastes
Sports: (740) 888-6054 sports@thisweeknews.com
Presented by:
Retail ads: (740) 888-6035 sdame@thisweeknews.com Classified: (740) 888-5003 classified@thisweeknews.com Customer Service: 1-888-837-4342
Click on Social Scene at ThisWeekNEWS.com
Visit ThisWeekNews.com/foodandwine