Valerio told the Journal-News as hard as it is to have to replace Barnes, she believes he would want the trustees to make the decision.
“They just give us 30 days and I know Tom would want us to get it done,” Valerio said. “He would want us to get somebody to represent the township and have three trustees, I feel he would want that.”
Fiscal Officer Doug Wheelright said finding people who are willing to serve is not as easy as it might sound.
“It’s a difficult situation to begin with, but it’s very difficult in this situation to solicit candidates,” Wheelright said. “There is compensation so I don’t want to use the word volunteerism, but it is a community service position and people aren’t motivated by that anymore.”
According to the Ohio Revised Code, the trustee salaries are based on the township’s budget, so this position pays $14,844 next year — the annual budget is around $5 million — plus benefits like health insurance. The trustees meet once a month but also have special meetings and other township business they routinely handle.
Interested candidates may send resumes to the trustees at the Township Administration Building at 2449 Jackson Road, Hamilton, OH 45011 or email them to stclairtownship1@aol.com.
Finding people to serve was difficult in other smaller jurisdictions in the November 2021 general election. College Corner had no candidates for four council seats, Millville and New Miami each had a single person run for four open seats and Seven Mile had one open seat on the ballot.
Heidi Fought, executive director of the Ohio Township Association, said the trustees “can fill the vacancy in whatever manner they would like” ... they don’t have to request resumes or conduct interviews and “there is no prescription in the Ohio Revised Code that dictates how they do it.”
She said in her experience statewide, the main reason the probate judge would get involved is if the two remaining trustees can’t agree on a successor. There was one instance where two trustees died within the same 30-day window.
She said she understands this is a delicate time for St. Clair Twp., but “government doesn’t stop.”
“Business doesn’t stop, government doesn’t stop, yes it’s very fresh and you want to be respectful, but at the same time township operations do not stop,” Fought said. “So that 30 days is recognizing that it doesn’t stop.”
Ross Twp. Trustee Ellen Yordy tendered her resignation effective Dec. 31 and trustees Keith Ballauer and Jen Patterson — Yordy can’t have any input in choosing her successor — have a month to find her replacement. They are accepting resumes until Jan. 15.
In Ross Twp. the salary for next year is $19,236, — $96.18 per day for a maximum of 200 days annually —according to Administrator Laurie Kile. The elected officials also are eligible for health insurance and other benefits, but Kile said the current trustees only accept their salaries. The trustees meet twice a month plus special sessions as needed, but Kile said there is more to it than that.
“They are fielding all kinds of phone calls day and night, when they’re just out and about with the general public they get bombarded with questions,” Kile said. “So they’re pretty much on call 24/7.”
She has received three resumes from people who want to fill Yordy’s seat, they are: John Fisher, a health science advisor for Otsuka, Russ McGurrin, owner of A.B. Bonded Lock and Security and Dave Young, who served as a trustee previously from 1987 to 2002.
Candidates may mail documents to Township Administration at 4055 Hamilton Cleves Road, Fairfield, OH 45014 or email as a PDF to lkile@rosstwp.org.
This is the second time in less than a year Ross Twp. has had to fill a vacancy; former Trustee Tom Willsey died on March 8 after a battle with cancer. The trustees received three resumes — Young was among them — and an unsigned letter from people who wanted to be considered. Ballauer and Yordy selected Patterson during a special meeting April 28.
Whomever is appointed in both townships will need to run in the November 2023 election to keep their seats.
About the Author
