Township native is hired for top job
Friday, August 25, 2006 The new administrator's early goal: Build unity among staff and trustees. By DENISE DICK VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER BOARDMAN — Trustees have chosen a 24-year-old township native as the newest administrator. Jason Loree accepted the offer Thursday evening that trustees had made to him after an executive session Wednesday. He'll earn about $60,000 per year with other details of an employment agreement to be worked out. Robyn Gallitto, trustees chairwoman, said Loree will start after completion of a background check, likely in two to three weeks. "Initially, what I want to do is to build a sense of unity with the staff and with the trustees," Loree said. "We're all in this together. That involves talking with department heads and talking with staff." He recognizes there's division within the township. Trustees fired longtime administrator Curt Seditz in March, and Michael Villano, who was hired to replace him, quit after just more than three weeks, citing the political environment. "We have to sit down with the staff and the trustees and get us all back and working on the same page," he said. A 2000 Boardman High School graduate, Loree earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Kent State University in May 2004. He has four classes to complete before earning his master's in public administration from KSU and expects to complete those courses within the academic year. He had worked from January to August 2005 as an administrative intern for the township. He also was among the 71 applicants for the administrator's job after Seditz was fired, but when trustees narrowed the list to 11, he wasn't among the finalists. What happened Last month, they hired him as a temporary employee working in an administrative capacity. Trustees say that's where they saw his potential. All three agreed to offer him the job. Gallitto said he finished projects, conducted staff meetings and attended hearings during his brief employment. "He really showed us that he could take control and handle a situation," she said. Trustee Kathy Miller pointed to Loree's energy and enthusiasm as a strength. "There were several things that he accomplished in the last few weeks," said Trustee Elaine Mancini, pointing to completion of a township personnel manual. After Villano resigned and other candidates indicated they were no longer interested in the job, trustees had been considering readvertising for the position, Mancini said. "As we were looking at the list, there was no one that had a lot of the experience we were looking for, township experience," she said. Loree was explaining to the panel some of the things that he'd done and things he planned to do in the temporary job. "We started thinking, 'Here's a longtime Boardman resident, he understands government, and he's almost done with his master's degree,'" Mancini said. "We started to think that he was the one for the job."