Washintonville council members to stay on

Two council members will appoint the other four in January.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
WASHINGTONVILLE -- Four members of Washingtonville council whose terms expire Dec. 31 will reclaim their seats in January.
The terms of Theresa Allison and Laura Trummer expire in 2003. Since there were no candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot for the other four seats, Allison and Trummer are responsible for filling the vacancies.
Allison said Councilmen Roy Hartman, Norman Sommers, Larry Dickson and John Moretz have agreed to be appointed to the vacant seats.
Allison said she and Trummer will make the appointments at council's first meeting in January.
Council will set the date at its meeting Tuesday.
None of the councilmen filed petitions to be on the ballot. Council appointed Moretz to the seat vacated by Michael Donnalley when Donnalley agreed to accept council's appointment as mayor.
Donnalley had filed as a write-in council candidate, but later withdrew to become mayor.
Difficulty: Allison has said it's difficult to persuade people to serve on council or other posts because it involves a commitment of a lot of time and energy, not simply for council meetings, but in dealing with residents' concerns.
Some former council members and mayors have said the demands of public service in the tiny town surprised them, not only the workload, but the stress of public pressure.
Morrow often complained that he had little support from the community. He said it was only after many people urged him not to resign that he realized how many people were behind him.
The 2000 census figures show Washingtonville with a population of 789, an 11 percent decline from the 1990 census.
In recent years the village has had little support from residents in approving tax issues to fund village operations such as street repairs and improvements.
Council voted in 1999 to disband the volunteer fire department because of a lack of manpower. The village contracts with neighboring Leetonia and Green Township for fire protection.