In Poland Township, Lidle and Naples

In Poland Township, Lidle and Naples

It’s not quite as easy to oversee Poland Township these days as in recent years, but the incumbent trustees are rising to the challenge.

The stagnant economy has begun taking its toll, especially in the reduction of landfill tipping fees that have provided a welcome source of income in recent years.

Four candidates are seeking to take on the challenges facing the township for the next four years. They include the two incumbents, Robert Lidle, 48, an electrician by trade who is completing his second term, and Mark Naples, 52, who works for First Energy/Ohio Edison, and is finishing his third term.

The challengers are Felix Carbon, 60, a General Motors retiree, and Albert Sciulli, 50, an operating engineer at Trispan Corp., New Middletown.

Carbon says the township could save money if it cooperated more fully with the village in providing police and road services. There is already a joint fire district.

Sciulli says he first became actively involved in township politics in 2000, when there was an effort to limit the use of firearms in the township, and has continued to keep an eye on things. “I’m a maverick, ... some might say I’m a troublemaker. I’ve questioned a lot of things.”

But neither challenger raises the kind of questions that would rise to a level of undercutting the record that the incumbents have in providing efficient and economical governance to the township.

Balanced budgets

Lidle notes that the board has been able to balance its budget and maintain services without a levy increase for eight year by cutting workers compensation costs, instituting Health Savings Accounts for employees to reduce costs and winning pay freezes for employees.

Naples notes that the township not only continues to balance its budget, but predicts that it will be able to do so for at least another five years before the trustees would have to begin worrying about asking for new taxes.

Unless township residents have specific complaints about the way the township is being run that the challengers failed to raise, there appears to be no good reason not to return Lidle and Naples to office.

The trustees say they are working to solve flooding problems that have developed in some areas due to mistakes made during development. They’ve gotten some grants and will be seeking more.

In Poland Township, The Vindicator endorses Lidle and Naples for re-election.