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Finance woes tax district treasurer who doubles as school board member member
BY JORDAN COHEN
MCDONALD
Brian Stidham admits he has a serious challenge ahead of him: resolving major financial problems for two Trumbull County school districts.
Stidham, 37, is a first-year member of the Mathews Local Board of Education and is starting his second year as treasurer of McDonald village schools.
Both districts face projected deficits. The Mathews board recently ordered Superintendent Lee Seiple to develop a plan in 90 days that will eliminate more than $640,000 in deficit spending.
McDonald’s plan to place a 13.4-mill levy on the November ballot was rejected by the Ohio Financial Planning and Supervision Commission in July. The district, which previously borrowed more than $2 million from the state, has been in fiscal emergency since October 2009.
“I’m definitely seeing problems from both sides, and I’ve learned a lot,” Stidham said.
Stidham is one of two school treasurers in Trumbull County serving on other boards of education. The other is David Drawl, Brookfield treasurer and Maplewood school board member.
Stidham said that when he submitted his petitions to run for the Mathews position last summer, he had not been interviewed yet at McDonald. At the time, he had been assistant treasurer in the Mahoning County Educational Service Center. After he was hired as McDonald treasurer in September 2009, Stidham decided to continue his Mathews candidacy for personal reasons.
“I’ve got a son who is a fourth-grader at Mathews and thought with my abilities, I could help the board,” said Stidham, a Vienna resident for nearly 12 years.
Stidham said the situations in both school districts require tough decisions, and he plans to work with Seiple on the deficit reduction plan. Long range, Stidham cited Mathews teacher contracts, which he feels should be re-evaluated.
“The benefits [we pay for] trouble me,” Stidham said. “I’m not saying teachers don’t deserve it, but it makes me think twice when I see taxpayers taking cuts at other places.”
Stidham acknowledged he does not expect the Mathews Education Association, the teachers union, to be happy with his comments.
Last year, the teachers accepted a two-year contract with no pay raise the first year and a two percent increase the second. Fringe benefits were unchanged.
The treasurer takes a similar attitude toward McDonald, where teachers recently approved a contract with no pay raises. “We don’t have the funds to do whatever we want, and the essentials are all we can have,” the treasurer said.
Stidham said he has established a working relationship with long-time Mathews treasurer Teri Andrika to discuss ideas that can help both districts.
Andrika agreed. “It’s a help to me to have these discussions with another financial person,” the Mathews treasurer said.
Stidham said he cannot foresee any situation that would pose any potential conflict of interest problems adding that if one were to occur, he would abstain from voting. Otherwise, he sees his responsibility as helping to curtail overspending in both school systems.
“Having these responsibilities in both districts really opens your eyes a lot more,” he said.