Trustee Tom Willsey said prior to Bass a part-time administrator/secretary ran the township.
“It was kind of learning process for all of us, a growing process,” Willsey said. “He brought a lot of knowledge of the inner workings, he’s run it like a business, which was something that needed to be done. He brought a lot of innovation to Ross Twp.”
Bass said some of the challenges he faced when he arrived were organizing township records and managing the police department.
“I think I’ve helped to stabilize that from the standpoint of I’ve been able to help the board to make the decisions to go after the right-sized levies to be able to fund the department adequately,” Bass said. “We’ve got a police department that is doing extremely well, there was a lot failed levies up to those decisions.”
Former Police Chief Darryl Haussler worked with Bass for about five years before he retired in 2019 due to his rare and very painful disease known as scleroderma, which caused his kidneys to fail. He said Bass was a great boss and a huge asset to the residents of Ross.
He said it was inevitable Ross would be transformed from the “farm town” it had been to an area ripe for development as other areas have built out.
“Bob helped the trustees and township realize it’s coming and they need to stay ahead of it versus reacting to it,” Haussler said. “I think he was instrumental in getting a lot of the things done so things can come to fruition ... Just getting them in the right direction and doing it intelligently with the foundation and the knowledge of what should be done versus guessing at it.”
Bass has signed an agreement with the township to consult for the Burns Farm development. He’ll be paid $75 per hour up to $29,500. He said he can’t reveal any details but the contract refers to negotiating agreements with the schools for a financing district, with Hamilton for a Joint Economic Development District (JEDD) and more.
Bass has been grooming Assistant Administrator Laurie Kile for about about a year to replace him. Bass, who made around $76,000 annually, knew they likely couldn’t woo an administrator from another community for that kind of money, so it was logical to train Kile. The selection of a new administration has not been finalized.
Kile came in as an administrative assistant about two year ago and Trustee Ellen Yordy said she has developed under Bass’ tutelage. She said Bass offering to train his replacement was typical of him always thinking about the township first.
“He was just good, he just knew a lot and I’m sad to see him go...,” Yordy said. “He always anticipates how to help us. He could have just come in one day and gave us the two week notice.”
Bass said he and his wife plan to travel in retirement and non-profit volunteering also interests him.
“There is a lot of me that is sad about it,” Bass said of retirement. “I’ve been blessed, I’ve had a tremendous career filled with a lot of interesting things that have occurred, and I’ve worked with some great people both in Delhi and here in Ross. I have had one of the sheer joys in life which is to actually enjoying what you do.”
Trustee Keith Ballauer said he wishes nothing but the best for Bass in his well earned retirement. He said often he would see Bass’s truck in the township parking on his way to work at 4 a.m. and the administrator would often still be there 11 hours later, “he really went over and above for Ross Twp.”
About the Author