In Boardman, Moliterno

In Boardman, Moliterno

No one should envy whoever among the three candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot wins the race for Boardman Township trustee.

It is a fine township, with strong public service departments, a solid tax base, a beautiful park— it’s not surprising that it was recently recognized by CNNMoney.com as the 19th most affordable place to live in the United States.

But it also has a township government marked by incessant bickering among elected officials that sometimes rises to the level of dysfunction. Our hope that the 2005 election would bring some of that to an end was not realized.

One of three trustees, Elaine Mancini, is not seeking re-election. Running for her seat are:

Brad Calhoun, 44, a Boardman teacher and teachers’ union president, who has been active in various community organizations.

Larry Moliterno, 45, the chief executive officer of Meridian Services Inc., a nonprofit agency with a staff of 100.

Richard Slaina, 45, a 23-year employee of the Mahoning County Engineers Office, who has been a high school football official for 23 years.

Calhoun’s background in dealing with middle school students and Slaina’s experience as a high school referee give them at least some of the expertise that will be needed to step in between the incumbents, but we find Moliterno to be the most well-rounded candidate to take on the job.

The winner will join trustees Robyn Gallitto and Kathy Miller, who began their four-year terms in 2006 as allies, but now are not. The township’s fiscal officer, William D. Leicht, is unopposed for another four-year term.

Challenges ahead

The new trustee will not only have to navigate the minefield that Boardman politics continues to be, but he will have to deal with an increasingly complicated financial situation.

If the 4.1 mill additional levy on the November ballot passes, the board will have to work to make the additional $4 million in revenue last as long as possible. If it fails, the board will need to do some serious budget trimming.

Past boards have used year-end budget surpluses — made possible, in part, by uncommonly high inheritance tax receipts that have paid for infrastructure that other townships can’t afford — to avoid making cuts. Township revenues have declined since 1996, while salaries have doubled to meet growth, taxpayer demands for services and salary demands of township employees

Even this year, two of the three trustees approved a $21 million budget, knowing income would be about $17 million, but banking on financial reserves to fill the gap. Miller voted no.

Moliterno makes the strongest argument that his budget experience will allow him to tackle the township’s looming financial problems. He also made the strongest case for running government in an open fashion, but we acknowledge that we have heard that from other Boardman candidates in the past and have been disappointed.

The Vindicator endorses Larry Moliterno with the hope that he can make a difference.