“It’s a giant loss to the township, I tell people he was a mentor and an ally and good friend,” Wheelright said.
Wheelright said he joined the township board as a trustee in 1980 and Barnes had already been serving for several years. He said he believes Barnes became a trustee in 1976, lost a few elections through the years, but served in office at least 30 years.
“The big thing with his experience was stability,” Wheelright said. “Even back in the ‘80s Tom always was able to get to the best decision because he was just good at it... I think you’d have to call him a good steward of the township, his heart was in taking care of everything.”
One of his biggest accomplishments recently was winning a $4 million settlement in a David vs. Goliath court battle with the city of Hamilton over annexations, according to fellow Trustee Judy Valerio.
The township sued Hamilton in December 2017 in the Ohio Supreme Court, and after protracted litigation there and in Butler County Common Pleas Court, the trustees and city council reached a settlement in August — $3.5 million plus interest paid over 10 years — that will allow the township to address much needed roadwork.
“Tom wanted that done so bad and that’s one of the things I’m so glad got finished,” Valerio said. “We did it, we got it done and he was very pleased. All of it’s going for is paving. We worked on that for a few years really and a lot of people said it would never happen, but all of us trustees just refused to give up.”
Valerio said roads were a priority for Barnes and he was an “old school” public official listening to everyone because he cared deeply for his community.
Trustee Dustin Gadd is the newcomer on the board, taking his seat in January. He said he knows Barnes was “nervous” about a new trustee joining the board but, “over time we both earned each other’s respect and friendship, we didn’t always agree at the table but we always walked away respecting each other and we built a good friendship in the short time I’ve been there.”
Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens has known Barnes for 30 years, since he manages road projects for all the townships.
“Tom’s been a staunch supporter and fighting for the citizens of the township,” Wilkens said. “He’s tried to keep them in the forefront of everything, getting back to basics and he worked with us trying to make sure we got back on track doing the paving.”
Under state law, the trustees have 30 days to fill Barnes’ seat, and Gadd and Valerio said they will be accepting resumes until Dec. 23.
Visitation information
The visitation for Barnes is 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Avance Funeral Home and Crematory, 4976 Winton Road in Fairfield.
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