Oles wins trustee seat, tries to reverse layoffs

In Canfield Township, incumbent trustee Paul Moracco kept his seat.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Austintown Township Trustee-elect Lisa Oles says she's started working with a certified public accountant in an effort to find money to rehire laid off police officers and firefighters.
Oles, who defeated incumbent Rich Edwards, said the accountant has already started going through the township's budget. She was one of five challengers to defeat an incumbent township trustee in Mahoning County.
Oles received 39.91 percent of the vote, while Edwards received 36.26 percent.
Austintown trustees have laid off two police officers and seven part-time firefighters in an effort to save money. The layoffs and other budget cuts were needed, they said, because the township is facing a deficit at the end of this year.
Trustees had planned to rehire the police and firefighters if voters approved a 2.5-mill levy for police Tuesday. Nearly 54 percent of the votes were against the levy.
Oles said even though the levy failed, she still believes she can find the money to cover the deficit without laying off police and firefighters.
"I believe there is money. I believe there are ways we can cut without cutting jobs," she said.
Trustee David Ditzler said he may wait to see what Oles finds before he proposes more layoffs and budget cuts. "If she brings solutions in, I welcome them," he said.
Even when the layoffs and other budget cuts are taken into account, the township is still expected to have a $700,000 deficit at the end of this year, trustees said. The deficit is a result of increases in the cost of insurance, workers' compensation and wages, and decreased revenue, township officials said.
Edwards wouldn't comment on Oles' victory. The third-place candidate in the race was Sam Swoger III.
Her message
Oles said she believes she won because voters heard her message that a change was needed in the township. She felt that the election was about "change, leadership and trust," and she criticized current trustees for "back-room dealings" and for leading the township into debt.
Some residents and officials, including Ditzler, had criticized Oles for focusing her campaign on what's wrong with the current trustees rather than on what she would do if elected. On Tuesday, Ditzler compared Oles' proposals to address the deficit with imprisoned former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.'s proposals to improve the Mahoning Valley.
"If you have no plan, if you have no definitive methods to come up with any solutions, and instead you come up with a good knee-jerk reaction solution, like James Traficant, then you're going to get votes," he said.
Ditzler added, however, that he will be able to put aside his differences with Oles to work to improve the township.
Elsewhere
Challengers also defeated incumbents Tuesday in Berlin, Ellsworth, Milton and Springfield townships. The incumbents were James R. Brown Jr., who lost to Jason Young in Berlin; Steve Martin, who lost to William Spellman in Ellsworth; Frank Tomaino, who lost to Sue Lemmon in Milton; and Lee Kohler, who lost to James Holleran in Springfield.
Incumbents, meanwhile, won in Boardman, Poland, Canfield, Green, Smith, Coitsville, Goshen and Jackson townships.
In Canfield, incumbent Paul Moracco defeated Lori Yanacos-Clark, even though the husband of another trustee had urged residents to vote against him. Ed Bayus, husband of Trustee Judy Bayus, had placed several signs around the township calling for residents to "vote no on Moracco."
Moracco said he felt the negative campaigning backfired. Voters "respect what has done for the future of the township," he said. "I think the message was sent to Ed."
hill@vindy.com