ASHLAND — Candidates for the upcoming election had a chance to introduce themselves to the community at the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce held their “Meet the Candidates” event at the Salvation Army Kroc Center on Monday evening.
March 17 is election day and individuals running for public office were given the opportunity to share their background information and briefly overview their campaign.
Mayor Matt Miller also spoke at the event regarding the five-year municipal income tax renewal levy for street repair and resurfacing on the upcoming ballot.
“In 2006, the voters stepped forward and supported increasing the city income tax by 0.25%, and at that time it was estimated that would generate approximately $1.5 to $1.7 million a year,” Miller said. “We’ve spent approximately $2.7 million of local tax money on resurfacing these streets. However, we have used that money to leverage state funds, so we have actually put somewhere in the neighborhood about $6.3 million into new pavement in the city.
“That’s why we were able to get Center Street, Cottage Street and Main Street done.”
According to Miller, the city has paved roughly 56 out of the 220 lane miles in Ashland, which equates to approximately 85 streets. Miller also mentioned other forthcoming projects including the extension of Well’s Road, the roundabout installation on U.S. 250 and Cottage Street, as well as the Claremont Road construction project scheduled for 2021-2022.
“That project is well over $2 million, but the majority of that will be funded by state dollars and once again, we will be using a small fraction of our 0.25% income tax that you’ve approved in the past to cover our share,” Miller said. “With the roundabout, it’ll be a similar story, but even a larger portion of that will be covered by a state grant – also around $2 million.”
Early voting begins on February 19th. Below is a basic overview of each candidate that spoke at Monday’s meet-and-greet.
Candidates for Court of Common Pleas Judge – Probate & Juvenile Division:
The the only contested county-level race this March, three Republican candidates compete with an interest to be Ashland County’s next Probate/Juvenile Court Judge. These hopefuls include Joseph P. Kearns, Jr., Karen DeSanto Kellogg and David M. Hunter.
Karen DeSanto Kellogg – Republican
Kellogg graduated from Cleveland Marshall College of Law and has over 18 years experience as an attorney. She is the secretary of the Ashland Parenting Plus Board and has served as a board member and chair of the Appleseed Community Mental Health Board.
“The number one goal that I can say I’m going to have for that court is to run an efficient court that is always there every day to do the peoples’ work,” Kellogg said. “Doing the peoples’ work in this capacity means doing it in a prompt, timely and efficient manner.”
David M. Hunter – Republican
Hunter graduated from Ashland University and went on to study law at the University of Toledo. He resides outside of Perrysville and has been practicing law for 23 years. Hunter has also served as an assistant law director for the city of Ashland for the last 18 years.
Hunter expressed his desire to visit all the schools in Ashland County and talk to the students regarding bullying.
“I want to talk to those kids about what they’re seeing in their classrooms and in their hallways and in their homes and what I’ve seen in my courtroom,” Hunter said. “If I get in there and talk to them about why bullying is not appropriate; taking your phone out and taking photos of yourself and of your friends and posting it all on the internet and why that’s wrong.”
Joseph P. Kearns, Jr. – Republican
Kearns graduated from Ashland High School in 1985. He went on to study at Ohio State University and subsequently received his law degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Kearns has over 25 years experience as an attorney and has served as an acting judge for Ashland Municipal Court. He took time to comment on the foster care situation in Ashland county.
“At one point, there were over 220 kids in the foster care system,” Kearns said. “I want to get that number down for a lot of different reasons.
“I want to get the kids in a stable situation — get them into a stable safe home and safe environment.”
Candidates for State Representative – Ohio House District 70
Kevin Barnet – Democrat
Barnet is originally from New York and has lived in Ohio for the past 14 years. He is a business owner and has several years of management experience.
“I believe we all want to do the right thing for our family,” Barnet said. “I believe we all want to send our kids to good schools.”
Barnet also noted his support of the red flag law regarding background checks and the second amendment, stating that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s proposals are a “start,” but he would’ve approved of the red flag law.
Darrell Kick – Republican
Kick resides in the Loudonville area and he and his wife are licensed foster parents. Kick’s campaign strives to aid the adoption process and he supports the nation’s veterans as well as the second amendment.
“I’m not a big fan of most of the red flag laws, or quite frankly any that I’ve seen,” Kick said. “The stats do know show that the problem is with legal gun owners and I’m protecting the second amendment.
“I firmly believe that our founders gave us the second amendment as soon as they decided what the first amendment was because without the second amendment you don’t have the first amendment or any others for that matter.”
Candidate for Judge of the Ohio District 5 Court of Appeals
Jeff Furr – Republican
Furr earned an engineering degree from Ohio State University and served in the Army National Guard. He obtained his law degree from Capital University and has been practicing for years.
“I served on the Johnstown City Council,” Furr said. “My role was always to go with my conscience so that I can sleep well at night.
“I did that every time.”
Candidates for State Senator – Ohio District 22
Four Republican candidates — Cory Branham, Ron Falconi, Timothy Hoven and Mark Romanchuk will face off in March to determine who competes against sole Democratic candidate Steve Johnson in the November election.
The winner of the late 2020 election will replace the seat formerly held by Republican Larry Obhof, who cannot run for re-election due to term limits.
Cory T. Branham – Republican
Branham is an 11-year active-duty veteran from Shelby. He has four college degrees including a Master’s in biblical studies. Branham told the crowd on Monday that he was pro-life and took time to defend the second amendment.
“I inherited my first firearm before I was 13,” Branham said. “I was never much of a hunter, but I turned that inheritance of a firearm into a healthy recreational hobby and that’s why I left to serve as I was recognized as a military marksman.”
Ron Falconi – Republican
Falconi was born in the Cleveland area and has been the mayor of Brunswick since 2013. His campaign aims to protect conservative values and Falconi is pro-life and pro-second amendment. He is also a former assistant prosecutor.
“I know how to fight the bad guys and I know how to win,” Falconi said. “When I was a city councilman, I was chairman of the economic development committee and also chairman of the planning and zoning committee.
“I want to make sure that business not only comes to the city, but thrives in the city as well,” he added.
Timothy Hoven – Republican
Hoven lives in Brunswick and has worked 27 years for CNC Equipment. He doesn’t support a minimum wage raise and commented on the legal age for buying cigarettes’ and alcohol.
“I believe if you are old enough to join the Army or the Air Force, they’re going to give you weapons training,” Hoven said. “If you’re old enough to do that, you’re old enough to buy cigarettes.
“You’re old enough to buy beer. I could buy beer at 18.”
Steve Johnson – Democrat
Johnson went to Ohio State University and has been treasurer of Mansfield Plumbing Products for 15 years. He explained that Ohio is rated the worst state in the country in education affordability. He also commented on his support for the red flag laws.
“There are almost 40,000 cases of child abuse,” Johnson said. “Some of the beaters and some of the abusers have guns and pose an imminent threat to their wives, girlfriends and children.
“If I’m State Senator, I’m going to focus on protecting society’s most vulnerable.”
Mark Romanchuk – Republican
Romanchuk grew up in Richland County and is a trained engineer working overseas for a period of time. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and is a business owner.
He has been the state representative of Richland County since 2013.
“We have created hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Romanchuk said. “Why isn’t it more? Because we have 188,000 jobs going unfilled.
“In fact, right here in Ashland… there are 4,700 jobs going unfilled.”
