SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP, ALLEN COUNTY, Ohio (WLIO) – It was a packed house Monday night at the Shawnee Township "Meet the Candidates" town hall meeting, as residents came out to learn more about the people running for trustee in November.
About 200 residents were in attendance as candidates Mindy Molaski, Paul Neff, Chad Myers and Kenny Gross answered various questions about their vision for the township.
On the Nov. 4 election, Shawnee Township residents will vote to fill two seats on the Shawnee Board of Trustees. At Monday night’s town hall, Your News Now asked each attending candidate why they are campaigning for a trustee seat.
"I was asked to be on the levy committee for the Shawnee Township Fire Department 4 years ago and just getting a little frustrated we don't know answers to why we don't have the fire department started. Trying to get what the voters have already voted for and approved started or at least reasons to why it hasn't been started and kind of go from there," says Mindy Molaski, Shawnee Township Trustee Candidate.
"I believe right now, the township really needs transparency and accountability. We need to be more transparent with our residents and our voters to make sure they understand where the money is going and what's actually going on in the community as a whole, making sure, you know, our budget stays within due bounds, and again, just reporting to the public what we're doing and why we're doing such," says Kenny Gross, Shawnee Township Trustee Candidate.
"Lately, I just feel that there's just been too much... we need more truth, transparency and fiscal responsibility, and we've gone through 2 fire chiefs in a short period of time. I don't know of any other community that's done that, so I think there's some micromanaging going on with the fire department, definitely. We had a levy a few years ago and not everything has been addressed with that," says Paul Neff, Shawnee Township Trustee Candidate.
"As a trustee, you need to be informative to your community, and right now, I believe we are misguided and uninformed as community members, so that's what kind of inspired me to try and run for township trustee. I'd like to bring Shawnee back together as a community again. Right now, I feel we're divided from trustees to the community. I'd like to restructure the website and be able to have more information out there for the community," says Chad Myers, Shawnee Township Trustee Candidate.
Shawnee Trustee incumbents Clark Spieles and Ted Ciminillo, who are running for re-election, were not present at the town hall.
