Mayoral election: Dill will face Rich

A 5-mill tax levy failed for the third time.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
CAMPBELL -- Mayor John E. Dill finished in first place in a primary runoff for his elected position, but he wasn't very cheerful.
"I've got to work a little bit harder," Dill said. "I'm not pleased there were that many people who aren't satisfied with the job I'm doing."
Dill received 49.2 percent of the vote. He will face former Councilwoman Juanita Rich, who finished second in Tuesday's runoff, with 25.85 percent of the vote, in the November election.
Under Campbell city charter rules, the top two finishers in the primary advance to the November general election.
Financial distress
Dill said he was extremely disappointed that for the third time voters rejected a 5-mill, 5-year additional levy that would raise $352,760 annually. The levy received 41.1 percent of the vote Tuesday. In May, voters defeated the levy by 86 votes.
The state placed the city in fiscal emergency June 10, 2004, because of an operating deficit. The city could end this year with a shortfall of as much as $450,000.
The city has already laid off employees and didn't fill vacancies because of financial problems. Further job cuts are possible, Dill said.
The city will put the levy back on the ballot sometime next year, Dill said.
Adding to the city's financial woes is news that Calex Corp., the city's largest private-sector employer, plans to go out of business in two weeks, said Dill, who is scrambling to stop that from happening.
Like Dill, Rich said she needs to work harder to capture the mayoral seat. She lost mayoral bids in 1995 and 1999, but did well enough Tuesday during her political comeback to finish in the top two and move on to the November general election.
"I am surprised that people voted for [Dill] and voted against the tax," she said. "People aren't going to give any more money to this current administration. We need someone aggressive to get us out of fiscal emergency."
Council President Robert Yankle, who's held that position since July 2000, finished third in Tuesday's mayoral runoff. Unlike Dill and Rich, Yankle said he wasn't disappointed with the results. Whoever is elected mayor in November has a financial mess on their hands, he said.
"I feel sorry for anyone who is elected mayor with the levy failing," Yankle said. "It's going to mean massive cuts. [Losing] is a blessing in disguise."
Only 29.57 percent of eligible voters in Campbell went to the polls Tuesday.
Write-in votes
The city charter allows voters to write in anyone they choose in the mayoral race. There were 49 write-in votes.
Of those, Tony Fontes received 39 votes. Fontes unsuccessfully sued the Mahoning County Board of Elections to force a council president primary. He was a write-in candidate for that position.
Only one person had his name on the ballot for council president, so the 7th District Court of Appeals upheld a decision by Director Thomas McCabe of the Mahoning County Board of Elections to not hold a primary for that position.
The late Frank Tofil received 9 votes in the primary. He was a write-in candidate who died during the campaign. Five of his votes were via absentee ballots, so they were probably submitted before Tofil's death, election officials say. But 4 people wrote his name on the ballot during Tuesday's election.
There was 1 write-in vote for "Tooli." Election officials didn't know what to make of that name.
skolnick@vindy.com