November 6, 2003

Election results—

Mucher re-elected Township trustee

Miami Township trustee Chris Mucher easily won re-election, garnering almost three times the votes of challenger David Heckler.

Voters cast 1,248 votes, or 73 percent, for Mucher, while Heckler received 457 votes, or 27 percent.

Mucher won every precinct in Yellow Springs and Miami Township, receiving 985 votes from voters in the village and 263 votes from voters living in the township, outside Yellow Springs. Heckler received 320 votes from village voters and 137 from voters in the township.

“I’m very satisfied that the voters of Miami Township recognized that I’m committed to the work that I’ve begun in my past term in office,” Mucher said Wednesday morning. “I’m committed to serving successfully in the future. I have other things I’d like to accomplish.”

As friends and neighbors called and stopped by his Movieworks/Photoworks business to congratulate him, Mucher said that he is already focused on working on the future Township issues. “I don’t like to spend a lot of time dissecting stuff,” he said. “I like to move on.”

Mucher was dividing his time the morning after the election running his store and making phone calls on two township matters, a proposed land use plan and a real estate issue. He said that he is also focused on creating a plan to update the firehouse. He said that he prefers to let his performance speak for him.

Mucher has served on the Miami Township Board of Trustees for the past six years, the last two as president. He will now serve another four years on the board.

Both candidates did best in Yellow Springs precinct 443, which includes the south end of town and had the highest voter turnout at 57 percent. Heckler had the least amount of votes, 50, in Yellow Springs precinct 442, the center of town. Mucher had his poorest showing, with 111, in township precinct 455.

Former village manager David Heckler ran for office with support for the Miami Township fire-rescue department at the forefront. If elected, he would aim to strive for consensus, he said, in pursuing a balance between farmland preservation and economic development.

In Miami Township’s other race, incumbent Margaret Silliman was re-elected as the Township clerk/treasurer. Running unopposed, she received 1,461 votes.

Silliman will serve her second term as clerk. The Township clerk is responsible for the township’s record keeping and accounting.

—Lauren Heaton