“Business has to get done and on a three person board that is the challenge...,” Fought said. “You’ve got three people and if you’re on an issue and maybe it’s a deadlocked issue, one trustee is on one side, one trustee is on the other, then that issue dies because there’s no majority.”
Willsey, 74, served 36 years as a trustee and had just begun his 10th term in office after winning re-election last November. Whomever is appointed will need to run in the November 2023 election to keep the seat.
The trustees received three resumes and an unsigned letter from people who want to be considered. Yordy said they had an executive session Thursday and narrowed the list to two and planned to interview them prior to their regular meeting this Thursday.
Then someone else came in and and said they also want the job. She is waiting for the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office to get back to her with an opinion as to whether they can consider this last person since they have already started the process, “I’m just trying to do it the right way,” she said.
The three people who submitted resumes were Dave Young who served as a trustee previously from 1987 to 2002; Jennifer Patterson, a township resident and Monroe’s assistant to the city manager and Marc Longworth II, a life-long resident and founder of LEI Home Enhancements, a national exterior home remodeling company.
The trustees have some major decisions coming up, namely the controversial mega development for the Burns Farm property. If approved the 350-acre farm tract at the corner of U.S. 27 and Ohio 128, would be developed with 339 mid-level and estate homes, senior cottages and assisted living,185 rental units and 124 units of “active adult housing.” A small portion, about 25 acres, could hold a hotel and neighborhood retail.
Some residents protested it and the Butler County commissioners would not allow the creation of a New Community Authority to help with financing necessary infrastructure. The trustees have said the issue isn’t over yet, they are considering other funding ideas.
Young told the Journal-News Willsey was a friend, they served as trustees and firefighters together and he wants to see his legacy preserved. He said he understands Willsey supported the plan but he isn’t a fan.
“I understand the development but I don’t think we need to have it changed in that direction that quick” and he doesn’t want public money spent on a private enterprise.
“I don’t think the township should be entering into this thing using any kind of tax dollars to help this development,” Young said.
When asked about the Burns Farm proposal Longworth said “that’s a million dollar question that I can’t answer right now.”
“I think that growth is inevitable,” Longworth said. “With the opportunity to take Tom’s seat I would support what Tom had supported with the development, as long as it was controlled in the aspect of I’m not a fan of vinyl communities such as we see in Harrison. I want to see the most bright prosperous future for the citizens of Ross Twp.”
Patterson said she has been “serving residents by building relationships, managing projects, and finding creative solutions to challenges” as an employee but she would like to do so as an elected official in her community.
“The residents of Ross have many different perspectives and goals for the future of the the area,” she said. “I’m interested in learning more from everyone as the township comes together to determine what the next 5, 10, or 15 years looks like for the community.”
If Yordy and Ballauer cannot agree on the appointment then Butler County Probate Judge John Holcomb will make the decision.
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