5 seek 2 seats on Austintown board

Communication with residents
appears to be an important issue for all candidates.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

AUSTINTOWN — Five candidates are up for two open seats on the Austintown Board of Education in Tuesday’s election.

Incumbent David Ritchie is running once again. Incumbent Michael Creatore is not.

Also running are Mike Ferguson, Barbara Beachler, Dave Mellott and Lou Chine.

Ritchie has been on the board for 10 terms — 40 years. He said, though, that he still has plenty to do.

He cited stadium improvements, the district’s new bus garage and updating textbooks as projects he’d like to see finished.

Funding, he said, is the biggest problem Austintown faces, with the passage of a new levy not likely, he believes. “I think people are up to here in taxes.”

Ritchie said something needs to happen at the state level, a sentiment echoed by the other four candidates.

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled four times, the first in 1996 and the latest in 2002, that relying on property taxes to fund schools is unconstitutional. The state Legislature has not made a move to fix the system, and until it changes, school districts have no choice but to return to voters if they want to generate new funds.

Austintown has not had a new levy in more than 10 years.

Ritchie also said communication is important between the board and the community. “My door is always open. My number is in the [telephone] book,” he said.

Ferguson, who has lived in the township for 12 years, also said communication with constituents is an important issue with him. “There’s a clandestine feeling of the way things operate at central office,” he added.

He doesn’t believe that as a board member, he would have a large role in the district’s day-to-day operations.

He said the board is a “lightning rod” for the community and must make sure administrators do their jobs. As far as state funding, he said, the district has to deal with reality. “We can talk about money from the state, but reality is we have the hand we’re dealt.”

He said that if the district is going to attract good teachers, it has to pay good wages and have good benefits. He said he believes Austintown’s wages could be better. He said there are smaller districts that have better base salaries, including Rootstown’s, where he teaches.

Beachler said she was born and reared in Austintown. “As an educator, I want to come back and make sure we continue excellence in education,” she said.

She is a seventh-grade teacher at Champion Middle School.

She said that communication is important, and the board must let people know it needs their support. She advocates small groups meeting, possibly at township homes for coffee.

“Make sure we are out in the community, and be available for people to talk to,” she said.

Chine said he believes the biggest problem Austintown has is a credibility problem with its board. Accountability and communication are problems as well, he said.

Chine has been an Austintown resident for 50 years. He said he knows people “in all sectors,” and doesn’t believe he has a problem communicating with them.

Mellott, a lifelong township resident, also said he perceives a lack of communication between the school system and the public.

He said he believes residents are distanced from the school board and are afraid to approach it and the administration.

He said the administration and staff should run the school system, but the board communicates with the community.