Naples and Sturbi in Poland

Poland Township is a financially and politically stable community that has benefited over the past few years from a reasoned approach to township government. Residents would be ill served by a return to the divisiveness of the past.
With Franklin Bennett's decision not to run for re-election, Poland voters are confronted by three challengers and one incumbent vying for two seats on the township board of trustees. Thus, they have a choice of voting for candidates who can be counted on to continue carefully considered progress or to vote for contentiousness on one hand or inexperience on the other.
We would recommend that they re-elect trustee Mark Naples and return former trustee Peter J. Sturbi to office.
Naples: Naples. a graduate of Poland Seminary High School, was first elected to the board of trustees in 1998 and is seeking his second term. He has served both as chairman of the board and of the Western Reserve Joint Fire Department. and has been active in the community, notably in the Poland Community Baseball Association, Poland's Bicentennial Committee and the Little Red Schoolhouse paving project among others. He believes rightly that the township's future growth depends on effective zoning and planning.
Sturbi: Often, a former elected official who decides to run again has either an ax to grind or a need to refight old battles. In his meeting with The Vindicator editorial board, however, Sturbi, who was a trustee from 1978 to 1990, demonstrated that he is a township resident who has maintained an abiding interest in his community and understands what is appropriate to address current concerns and needs. Inasmuch as Naples has only four years on the board and Trustee Annette Jeswald-DiVito has served for only two years, we believe Sturbi's longevity in Poland Township and his independence of thought will serve residents well.
Challenger Albert Sciulli, says he wants "to open up township government to the residents," but offers little to support his contention that the public is shut out of the process. He is adamantly opposed to the current zoning resolution and advocates that agricultural, commercial, industrial and business interests have a greater role in zoning decisions than do Poland residents. We do not believe that such a power shift is in the best interests of a residential community.
The other challenger, Robert J. Lidle Jr., is a former political consultant turned electrician. Although he graduated from Poland Seminary High School, he only returned to the area some two years ago. His Democratic political experience in Columbus is not without merit but seems to have little applicability to service as a nonpartisan Poland Township trustee. He would be well advised to become more active in the community before seeking a position of leadership.