7 vie for 3 seats for Canfield trustee

A proposed $1.2 million administration building is at the forefront of the race for Canfield trustee.

By Elise Franco

CANFIELD — With all three positions up for grabs on Nov. 3 and a total of seven candidates on the ballot, big changes may not be far off for the township board of trustees.

Incumbent Randy Brashen, 58, is challenged by Charles Coleman, 59; Marie Cartwright, 56; and Tony Bettile, 50, for two four-year-term positions on the township’s board of trustees.

Three candidates are running for a two-year unexpired term. Incumbent Richard Puerner, 76, is running against 24-year-old Alex Mangie and Martha Zarlenga, who has lived in the township for 45 years.

Current trustee Bill Reese is not seeking re-election.

A hot-button issue all the candidates were familiar with is talk of a new township administration building to be built on the park lands on Herbert Road.

The proposed cost of the structure is $1.2 million.

Cartwright, who has attended trustee meetings since 2001, named two less-expensive options: renovating the current township hall on South Broad Street or moving into a building on Messerly Road.

“This will be a building that only houses two full-time employees and four elected officials,” she said.

Coleman, who spent 15 years on the Canfield Township Zoning Commission, agreed and said not enough time has been spent looking at the current facility.

“I believe there’s a need for better quarters, but I don’t believe it needs to be on as large a scale,” he said.

Bettile and Zarlenga both said spending so much money on one project during an economic downturn is fiscally irresponsible.

For Brashen, the issue is less black-and-white.

“I’m really riding the fence on that issue,” he said.

Brashen said if re-elected he would be open to other options, such as renovating the current township hall.

He said to redo the entire building would cost an estimated $750,000.

“If I had to vote today, I would vote no to build it right now,” Brashen said. “The economy is in the toilet, and we’re hoping to learn from mistakes of other townships.”

Puerner said the majority of residents haven’t expressed enough interest for or against the location. He said plans for the building are preliminary and nowhere near ready for a vote.

“We’re not going to vote on it tomorrow,” he said. “We may not even vote on it next year.”

Another topic the candidates said is at the top of their priority list is the proposed joint water district among Austintown, Canfield and Boardman townships.

All seven candidates agree the district will benefit Canfield.

Mangie and Bettile said annexation to Youngstown is a major concern for residents.

“No township or city should have to look to another area for their water,” he said. “People in the township aren’t wild about joining the city.”

The candidates said the district also will solve some residents’ storm-water issues.

But Puerner said flooding has been an issue for decades, and he has new plans to alleviate water woes.

“It struck me pretty hard when people’s houses were getting flooded,” he said. “Someone has to step up. ... I want to put retention ponds in to stop and slow the water in addition to the Indian Run [flooding control] project.”

efranco@vindy.com

Four Canfield trustee candidates seek two full four-year terms, and three candidates seek one unexpired two-year term. An (*) denotes the incumbent.

FULL TERM:

RANDY BRASHEN*

Age: 58.

Home: 3964 Shields Road.

Education: Bachelor of arts from Youngstown State University, 1999; attended Ohio State University, 1969 to 1973; graduate of Hubbard High School, 1969.

Employment: Full-time trustee.

Family: Wife, Jo Anne; one daughter.

Priority: To ensure projects that have already been started are completed. He gives examples such as the joint water district, new park land development, sewage issues and slowed residential and commercial development.

CHARLES COLEMAN

Age: 59.

Home: 5483 S. Raccoon Road.

Education: Bachelor of science from U.S. Military Academy at West Point; master’s of business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace College; The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and Army War College.

Employment: Government business development manager for Linde Hydraulics Corp. in Canfield.

Family: Wife, Holly; one daughter.

Priority: Include updating the township’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Concept for Growth.

MARIE CARTWRIGHT

Age: 56.

Home: 6129 Leffingwell Road.

Education: Executive Master of Business degree from Case Western Reserve University; bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Kent State University; graduate of Canfield High School.

Employment: Marketing consultant.

Family: Widowed.

Priority: To maintain the residential nature of the township. She also plans to work toward solving sewage and drinking-water problems for residents.

TONY BETTILE

Age: 50.

Home: 1380 Fox Den Trail.

Education: Graduate of Boardman High School.

Employment: President of Buckeye Lawn Service Inc. and Storage & More in Canfield.

Family: Wife, Kim; one daughter and one son.

Priority: To look at options for a new township administration building other than the proposed $1.2 million building on Herbert Road.

UNEXPIRED TERM:

RICHARD PUERNER*

Age: 76.

Home: 4811 Leffingwell Road.

Education: Bachelor of mechanical engineering degree from General Motors Institute of Technology.

Employment: Retired.

Family: Wife, Doris; five daughters and two sons.

Priority: The “method, design, and installation of sanitary sewer systems along state Route 46, north of Shields Road.”

ALEX MANGIE

Age: 24.

Home: 3735 Barber Drive.

Education: Master of accounting degree from The Ohio State University; bachelor of science in business administration at Youngstown State University.

Employment: Self-employed accountant.

Family: Single.

Priority: Ensuring the joint water district with Canfield, Boardman and Austintown is implemented. He said he thinks implementing the district will save the township from annexation to Youngstown.

MARTHA ZARLENGA

Age: N/A.

Home: 8095 Columbiana-Canfield Road.

Education: Business degree at Robert Morris University.

Employment: Public relations consultant for The Acme Co.

Family: Widowed; five daughters and two sons.

Priority: Working to make sure the township remains a growing community, with her focus on education.

Source: Candidate interview forms.