ASHLAND — Seven people running for public seats on councils around Ashland County met Thursday to speak about their candidacies.
The Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored the second and last event at Ashland High School. Ten candidates of area school boards met Tuesday for a similar event.
Renae Osborne, the chamber’s director of programs and finance, said the chamber invited all candidates across the county for Thursday’s event.
Around 35 people attended the event, which organizers emphasized was “not a debate,” to hear candidates introduce themselves. They each also had an opportunity to answer two prepared questions:
• What do you believe is the biggest issue facing your city, village or township?
• What do you believe your role (if elected) should be regarding diversity and inclusion in your city, village or township?
Ermal Alexander, a candidate for one of two available seats on the Sullivan Township Board of Trustees, kicked things off.
He said the small community seems to be divided between the two sides of the road.
“I want to bring those sides together,” he said. Alexander has a background in construction, so he said he wants to focus on maintaining roads in a timely manner.
Alexander is one of seven candidates for the two open seats. He and Tab Bloom were the only candidates to attend the event.
Bloom said there are too many personal agendas in Sullivan. He also said he would focus on bringing people together to get more involvement from residents on issues.
“We need to bring more people together with community events,” he said, adding his involvement with the township’s Fourth of July committee brought the community’s first Independence Day parade its seen in years.
Bob Zakutni, an incumbent for one of four open seats on Perrysville Village Council, said the village is heading in the right direction.
“But there’s a lot more to be done in the community,” he said, adding there are buildings that need to be demolished, more cleaning of the roads and public spaces and the repairing of roads.
He said Perrysville will also continue to focus on building a new sewer plant, which recently received a grant from Ashland County commissioners.
Changing the village’s attitude about itself will also be a focus if he is re-elected, he said.
Zakutni is one of seven candidates running. He was the only one present Thursday.
Jason Chio and Heather Sample are running for a Ward 2 seat on Ashland City Council, currently occupied by Bob Valentine. He is not seeking re-election.
Chio, who spoke first, said infrastructure in the City of Ashland is its largest issue.
“There’s a lot of great things happening above ground, but we have to think about underneath all of that. We’ll need to tackle that over the next many years,” he said.
Chio has worked in the construction industry for 30 years. He said that background will bring a unique and diverse perspective to Ashland council.
To the second question regarding diversity, Chio said he would treat inclusion issues no differently than in any other part of his life.
“Seeing the best in people regardless of their background is what I love to do,” he said.
Sample said she wants to be the voice to the people of Ashland who don’t have one. Sample, who is white and characterized herself as “pro-BLM,” works for lawyers in Mansfield and has a bi-racial daughter, she said.
The acronym stands for Black Lives Matter, a movement of people protesting against incidents of police brutality and violence against Black people.
She was born and raised in Ashland but moved to Florida for a time, seeking better career opportunities, she said.
“I’m an advocate for civil rights,” Sample said. “If I were elected, I would hold a public event every six months where people can come to me publicly and present questions or concerns or comments they have … if we listen to one another, we’ll be able to work better together for all Ashlanders.”
Emily Huestis is a candidate for Ashland Council’s Ward 3 seat. She is running against Dennis Miller, the seat’s incumbent.
Huestis, a first-time candidate for any public office, said she knows how to build common ground. She has worked in education, health care administration and has been a stay-at-home mother.
Huestis also said the main issue in Ashland is fixing stormwater infrastructure problems.
“We need to work on positioning Ashland to seize opportunities to thrive now and in the future,” she said.
She currently works as executive director of Ashland Center for Nonviolence at Ashland University and as a public health consultant for the Southeast Ohio HIV/HCV Partnership.
Her answer, in part, to the second question about diversity and inclusion was to “be kind.”
“We never know what battle someone’s fighting,” she said.
Miller was first elected to Ashland council in 2017. He said his 46 years in banking and finance has brought value to the city’s government.
“I’m very pleased to say the state of the city is excellent,” he said.
He spoke about various initiatives he has been involved in over the last four years as councilman, including the ongoing work to get streets repaved, demolishing the Hess and Clark building and the Pump House and the expansion of the city’s housing offerings.
“There’s a lot more to come,” he said. “I want to continue.”
He agreed infrastructure is a main issue for Ashland, but he said it isn’t a new issue.
“We’ve been working on this for three years — over three years,” Miller said.
For the second question, he read a statement he read last summer, amid protesting that broke out around the world and in Ashland following the death of George Floyd.
“This mayor, this council, this city government does not, and will not, condone any discrimination and we’ll continue to support all lives matter so that no one will be discriminated against,” he said.
Ashland’s mayor, Matt Miller is running uncontested. Angela Woodward is also running uncontested for her Ward 4 seat.
Sandy Enderby, the executive director of the Ashland County Council on Aging spent some time speaking about the agency’s proposed new tax.
The five-year, 2 mill levy is expected to generate $14.3 million over its life. If passed, it would replace an existing 0.6 mill levy originally set in 2007.
The council on aging and the county’s Department of Job and Family Services would share the revenue from the tax evenly.
Enderby said the levy would lead to bolstering the council on aging’s meal delivery program and create additional programming for caregivers and possibly a mentorship program.
She said JFS would benefit from the levy by increasing wages to retain staff and support its efforts to maintain its fostering program.
If passed, it means county residents with an average home price of $100,000 will owe an additional $70 in taxes each year.
To see what the ballot will look like in Ashland County, click here.
The Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce provided a livestream of each event, which are available to view on its Facebook page.
