7 Boardman trustee hopefuls focus on finances and unity
By Denise Dick
Incumbents Gallitto and Miller seek re-election.
BOARDMAN — The two incumbents in the seven-person contest for township trustee say they have no regrets from their last four years in office.
“I don’t think I regret any votes,” said Robyn Gallitto, 47, an attorney who is seeking her second term. “My interest was always the same: to try to take Boardman in the right direction. Regret is only going to waste time. If there was a mistake, I feel I can only learn from it.”
Kathy Miller, 62, a Realtor, seeking her third term, also said she has no regrets.
Five others are challenging them.
Ed Aey neither submitted a candidate questionnaire to The Vindicator nor participated in the newspaper’s interviews for endorsements.
Brad Calhoun, 46, a Boardman school teacher, ran unsuccessfully for a trustee seat two years ago.
Thomas Costello, 59, president of James and Sons Insurance, previously served six years as a trustee but was defeated by Miller and Gallitto four years ago.
Patrick Laffey, 45, who works as a technician at Western Reserve Transit Authority, formerly worked as maintenance supervisor at the township’s police department but was laid off in February 2008 because of the township’s financial problems.
Gary Rosati, 53, is an attorney at a Niles law firm.
This marks the first election bid for both Laffey and Rosati.
The township’s money woes take center stage in the candidates’ platforms.
Earlier this month, the state auditor’s office released a draft of a fiscal analysis of the township. The analysis concluded that while the township doesn’t meet the criteria for a fiscal-watch designation, there will be no general fund carryover at the end of this year.
For years, township expenditures have exceeded revenues, but the carryover, buttressed by inheritance tax, made up the difference. That money has been spent.
Miller accepted responsibility for the financial problems.
“I haven’t been able to make a change,” she said.
Miller, first elected in 2001, says she’s been urging her colleagues not to rely on the inheritance tax to fund operations since she came into office.
“There’s never been an agreement to make a change in that policy,” Miller said.
Gallitto, elected in 2005, says it’s not a change that can happen all at once. A strategic plan, enacted last year, calls for weaning the township off of the inheritance tax over five years.
It doesn’t make sense, though, Gallitto argues, to set the inheritance money aside and then borrow money to fund operations. That requires that the township pay interest.
While the township continues to operate at a deficit, Gallitto says that deficit has been cut in half since she took office. There’s also been progress made in employee unions agreeing to pay freezes and to kicking in healthcare contributions, she said.
Costello acknowledged that the problem with township finances has been looming for a long time. In 2005, while he was in office, Costello said, trustees talked about the need to address the public on shrinking tax dollars.
Costello lost his reelection bid in November 2005.
“In 2006, there was no follow-up to that meeting,” he said.
In 2007, there was what Costello termed a “half-hearted” effort to pass a 4.1-mill general operating levy without explaining the need for the levy to voters.
In promoting the 2.2-mill police and fire levy last November, trustees pledged to hire more police officers and return laid off firefighters to work. Three firefighters remain on furlough and one police officer has been hired.
“I was there for six years and I believe things went well during those six years,” Costello said.
What the community has gotten during the last fours years has amounted to empty promises, he said.
Calhoun also said that the current board has made promises it hasn’t kept.
“The trustees have not gotten along for probably at least eight years,” Calhoun said. “When I was going door-to-door, that’s what I kept hearing from people. ‘When are they going to start getting along? When are they going to start working together? When are they going to start working for us?’”
Miller points out that she’s voted with the majority of the board 98 percent of the time, but there’s often lengthy discussion — at times heated — leading up to the votes.
Calhoun believes that his experience as the former president of the teachers’ union at Boardman schools gives him experience that will be valuable in the township living within a budget.
“I’m very comfortable in working out deals for contracts,” Calhoun said.
He initiated the pay freezes approved earlier this year between the school board and teachers’ union, he said.
Calhoun also sits on the school district’s five-year forecast committee, which gives him budgeting experience. The school district, with its roughly $60 million budget, manages to forecast its finances five years out.
The township’s budget is about $17 million.
Laffey says he’s seeking office because the current administration has done nothing to address the township’s problems. He lists township finances as the major issue.
“We must get them under control instead of hoping they will fix themselves,” Laffey said.
The township also must do a better job of educating the public about finances, he said.
Rosati says the township’s financial problems is due in part to the foreclosure crisis gripping the country.
The township relies on property taxes and as people lose their jobs and default on their mortgages, that erodes the tax base. He suggests setting up a federal Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling agency to help township residents.
On the expenditure side, Rosati believes that some of the contracts with employee unions are “out of line.”
To reduce overtime generated by the fire department, he suggests the township negotiate the next firefighter contract to include part-time firefighters.
Like some of his fellow challengers, Rosati was critical of the perceived lack of unity on the current board.
“I think Mrs. Miller’s heart is in the right place,” he said. “She’s asking the tough questions. It just seems that someone who has been there for two terms should be more up to speed.”
denise_dick@vindy.com
Boardman Township
Trustee candidates
Seven candidates are vying for two township trustee seats. An (*) denotes an incumbent. Ed Aey did not submit a candidate questionnaire.
BRAD CALHOUN
Age: 46.
Home: 422 Jaronte Drive.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University, master’s degree from Ashland University.
Employment: Teacher at Boardman Local Schools
Family: Wife, Susan; two sons.
Priorities: Increase police protection. As I walk door to door, residents want what was promised by the current trustees, more police officers. Maintain three fire stations for the safety of residents and visitors of the township. Negotiate contracts our community can afford and have the board earn the respect of the community.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO
Age: 59.
Home: 7456 W. Parkside Drive.
Education: Attended Youngstown State University.
Employment: President, James and Sons Insurance, Boardman.
Family: Married with two adult children.
Priorities: Re-establishing trust and confidence in our township government as well as working with other elected officials both within the township and countywide are high priorities. We also need to interact with our employees in a businesslike manner to accomplish fiscal responsibility while restoring our township services. It is imperative that everyone work together for the well-being of the entire township.
ROBYN GALLITTO *
Age: 47.
Home: 1321 Fox Run.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; law degree from Capital University Law School, Columbus.
Employment: Partner, Siciliano & Gallitto, Boardman.
Family: Single.
Priorities: Even though we receive less money in property taxes due to a higher foreclosure rate and less revenue from the state that also funds townships, I am committed to stretch levy dollars so more police and fire personnel can be hired. This will be accomplished by working collaboratively and creatively with all employees, unions and elected officials.
PATRICK LAFFEY
Age: 45.
Home: 512 Deer Run Drive.
Education: Associate degree from Northwestern Business College Technical Center, Lima.
Employment: Technician, Western Reserve Transit Authority.
Family: Wife, Karen.
Priorities: Township finances are still the top priority, and we must do a better job at educating the public so they understand what is happening with money the township receives. I think one of the first things we need to do is change any general fund levy to a specific levy — police, fire, road — so that the board of trustees cannot manipulate the money.
Candidate did not provide a photo.
KATHY MILLER *
Age: 62.
Home: 154 Creston Drive.
Education: Bachelor’s from The Ohio State University, master’s from Cleveland State University.
Employment: Owner, RightPlaceRealty.com, Boardman.
Family: Husband, John, three adult sons.
Priorities: Fiscal accountability. While I was a new trustee in 2002, I had enough business background to know that something wasn’t right about the revenue we were getting and what we were spending. We were using the inheritance taxes to operate the township. It was a philosophy that was adopted by past trustees that I thought was wrong for the township...
GARY ROSATI
Age: 53.
Home: 41 Overhill Road.
Education: Bachelor’s from Kent State University; juris doctorate from the University of Toledo College of Law,
Employment: Attorney, Zuzolo Law Firm, Niles.
Family: Wife, Lynne, three children.
Priorities: The major issue for the township is the ongoing fiscal crisis. ... We need to address the problem both on the revenue side and the expenditure side. The problem on the revenue side can be summed up in two words: foreclosure crisis. The township finances its operations primarily through real estate taxes, but as residents lose their jobs, default on their mortgages and abandon their property, the township has been losing more and more of its tax base...