June 23, 2005

By Robert Mihalek

Eight positions on three boards and the Yellow Springs mayor’s position are available this fall in elections in Yellow Springs and Miami Township.

Three positions on both Village Council and the Yellow Springs school board and two seats on the Miami Township Board of Trustees will be listed on the ballot on Election Day, which will be held on Nov. 8.

To get on the ballot, candidates must file nominating petitions with the Greene County Board of Elections by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25. There is a $30 filing fee.

Petitions to run for Council or the Yellow Springs mayor’s position are available outside the Council room in the Bryan Community Center, with the clerk of Council, Deborah Benning, and at the Greene County Board of Elections office, 651 Dayton-Xenia Road in Xenia.

Petitions for Council or mayor must be signed by at least 35 registered voters from Yellow Springs.

Petitions for school board and the Miami Township Board of Trustees are available at the Board of Elections.

Petitions for the Board of Education and Township trustee must have 25 valid signatures of registered voters.

Benning may be reached at 767-9126 or dbenning@yso.com. The Board of Election’s phone number is 562-7470. The board’s summer hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except the first week in both July and August, when the office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The available seats on Council are held by Tony Arnett, the Council president, and Council members Denise Swinger and Bruce Rickenbach, who was appointed to Council in April to fill a vacancy created when George Pitstick resigned. The Village Charter mandates that appointed positions on Council expire at the next regular election, which is also when Pitstick’s term ends.

On Friday, an employee with the Board of Elections reported that Rickenbach had taken out a nominating petition for Council, while Benning said that no one had taken out a petition for Council from her office. The Board of Elections reported that no one had filed yet for the Council race.

The two candidates in the Council contest who receive the most votes at the polls will receive four-year terms. The candidate receiving the third most votes will serve a two-year term. The top three finishers in the Council race will join Mary J. Alexander and Jocelyn Hardman on Council.

Yellow Springs voters will also pick a mayor. The mayor’s position is currently held by David Foubert, who was first elected in 1991. Foubert has taken out a petition to run for re-election but has not filed, the Board of Elections reported. No other candidates have taken out petitions for the mayor’s post.

Under the Village Charter, the mayor of Yellow Springs is recognized as the official head of the Village for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor of Ohio for military purposes. In addition, the mayor oversees the Yellow Springs Mayor’s Court. The mayor may attend Council meetings and participate in discussions, though the mayor does not have voting power.

The three positions available on the Board of Education are currently held by Mary Campbell-Zopf, Bill Firestone and Angela Wright. The winners of the school board race will join Rich Bullock, the board president, and Richard Lapedes. Officials elected to the school board serve four-year terms.

The Board of Elections reported that only Anne Erickson has taken out a petition to run for school board, but as of last Friday, she had not filed for the contest.

The two seats on the Miami Township Board of Trustees that are available are held by the board president, Lamar Spracklen and Mark Crockett. The top two finishers in the trustees race will receive four-year terms and join Chris Mucher, who was re-elected in 2003.

Both Crockett and Spracklen have taken out petitions for the trustees contest but have not yet filed, the Board of Elections reported.

In addition, three seats will be on the ballot for the Village Council in Clifton. The positions are currently held by Steve Robbins, Anthony Satariano Jr. and Anthony Satariano Sr.