Trustee posts go on ballot
Voters to choose 2 out of 5 candidates for 2 Miami Twp. positions.
Voters in one of MIAMI TWP. — Ohio’s most-populated and — developing townships will have — a handful of choices this fall as they cast ballots for two trustee positions in the Nov. 7 election.
Five candidates are seeking the four-year terms for the slots that oversee Miami Twp., the seventh most populated township in the state and witness to more than $30 million in new construction in four of the past six years, topping $90 million in 2015 alone, records show.
Much of that growth can be linked to the areas in and around Austin Landing and the Miami Crossing District, formerly the Dayton Mall area. And the twomile stretch along Ohio 741 between the two commerce centers includes some of the township’s largest employers.
Despite Miami Twp.’s growth, funding will be “one of the biggest issues” Ohio townships face in the next five years, according to Matthew J. DeTemple, executive director of the Ohio Township Association.
“Townships don’t receive casino revenue and don’t collect sales or income taxes” except through joint agreements with cities, he said via email. “Townships are heavily reliant on local property taxes and yet only levy about 6 percent of the property taxes collected by schools and local governments in Ohio.”
Who helps guide Miami Twp. on those and other issues in 2018 and beyond has become the most hotly contested township race in Montgomery County involving two incumbents, according to the board of elections.
Incumbents Andrew Papanek and Eric Flasher – who in April was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Robert Matthews Jr.’s resignation — are facing challenges from Don Culp, John Morris and Zebulon Music for the positions that pay about $20,000 a year.
Don Culp is one of three candidates ( joining Flasher and Morris) on the ballot who applied after the resignation of Matthews, who stepped down to avoid any conflict of interest after accepting a job with Frost Brown Todd, LLC, a firm the township has contracted with in the past. Culp is a community activist involved in local Republican Party politics since the mid-1990s.
Eric Flasher was appointed by Papanek and Trustee Doug Barry, the top choice among four candidates interviewed. The Miamisburg High School and Miami University grad ran unsuccessfully for trustee in 2001 and 2005. He has been involved a number of community groups, including the Community Foundation of Miami Twp. and the West Carrollton schools strategic planning committee.
John Morris is president and chief executive officer for the Ohio Valley Associated Builders & Contractors and a former registered state lobbyist in construction.
He has degrees from Wright State University, the University of Delaware and the University of Cincinnati. He has held executive positions in both the public and private sectors, including Cincinnati Public Schools.
Zebulon Music is a precinct captain with the Montgomery County Democratic Party and a first-time elected office seeker. A Lewisburg native, he is the co-founder of the Miami Valley Progressive Caucus. He works in information technology and has an associate’s degree from ITT Technical Institute.
Andrew Papanek was elected in the fall of 2013, the top vote-getter in a fiveway race in which the only incumbent – Mike Nolan – was narrowly defeated. He has the most tenure of any of the current trustees and has served as both president and vice president of the board. Papanek successfully pushed for the township to develop a strategic plan, and has been an advocate of both code enforcement and law enforcement.