BOARDMAN Twp. trustee: Officials must work together

The township's spending philosophy has changed, causing residents to lose faith in trustees, one said.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- If the township is to maintain sound fiscal practices and keep intact a high level of respectability, it's going to take officials working together and will have to include ideas from department heads.
Those were among the sentiments expressed by Trustee Elaine Mancini at Monday's trustees meeting. Mancini told the standing-room-only crowd that for years, the township's spending philosophy has been to maintain and use a reserve fund for necessary costs, and that the new philosophy some officials have adopted is to spend only what is taken in.
Cuts have been made in some areas to keep with that strict approach, Mancini continued, yet other spending that's been approved is outside the scope of that philosophy, she contended.
In addition, the input of William Leicht, the township's fiscal officer, and other officials has been ignored and some leaders have been excluded from budget meetings, Mancini said.
As a result of this lack of continuity, many residents have lost faith in how trustees spend the township's money, she said.
Quotable
"I'm tired of seeing Boardman in the news and having people say, 'What's wrong with your community'? Mancini said, adding that the course the township seems to be taking changed earlier this year, in part after Administrator Curt Seditz's contract wasn't renewed.
Mancini said she plans to ask Leicht to hold a special meeting in May to discuss financial and other related matters.
Elsewhere
In other business, Capt. Jerre Patterson announced that the police department recently received a Governor's Highway Safety Office Award for its participation in seat-belt and anti-drunken-driving programs last year. The department will get a $1,182 moving and stationary radar system to be mounted in one of the newer cruisers, which will bring to eight the number of police cars with the equipment.
The department will take part in this year's seat-belt campaign from May 22 to June 4, as well as a program targeting impaired drivers this summer, Patterson said.
Trustees passed a motion put forth by Fire Chief James Dorman that called for buying six sets of fire gear. Dorman said the department needs new and safer fire coats and pairs of pants, estimated to cost a total of $12,088.
Trustee Robyn Gallitto said the township will hold a spring cleanup day April 22 at the administration building, 8299 Market St., as well as a program April 29 for residents to take bicycles, lamps and other usable items to the administration building for charities to collect.