Carlisle Twp. candidates vying for trustee, fiscal officer seats

Carlisle Township has two candidates vying for a trustee and two for the fiscal officer seat for the Nov. 5 general election.

The candidates are Democratic incumbent Jared Smith and Republican contender James H. Zelenka.

Democratic incumbent Kimberly Fallon and contender Richard R. Willard Jr. will compete for the fiscal officer position.

Both trustee and fiscal officer terms are four years, with the trustee term beginning Jan. 1, 2020, and the fiscal officer term beginning Apr. 1, 2020.

In Carlisle Township, there are 5,058 eligible voters, according to the Lorain County Board of Elections.

Trustee Jared Smith

Smith’s three areas of concern as trustee are township safety, aging road department equipment and community outreach.

For safety, he said in a Morning Journal questionnaire that the northern part of the township is an area of transition, where city meets country and varying densities of population meet.

“In areas like this, the increase in population tends to result in more reports of crime and a higher concentration of vehicle accidents due to more concentrated roadway use,” Smith said.

Road equipment remains expensive, but is needed, he said.

As trustee, Smith said he makes the effort to address residents’ problems.

“I have the experience and a commitment to transparency that is important for effective local government,” he said.

James H. Zelenka

For Zelenka, annexation, research on the Brentwood Lake subdivision and landfill are his major points of focus.

For annexation, he said in a Morning Journal questionnaire he would work “to stop transfers of township land to other municipalities or villages.”

Additionally, the subdivision has a mess needing to be corrected after the lake had been drained.

“This used to be a beautiful lake all residents enjoyed,” Zelenka said.

Having been a zoning commission chairperson, he said he has worked to protect homeowners.

“Fellow homeowners should never have to stand alone, to correct wrongs done in the past and to bring our township together,” he said. “I might not do what’s popular, but I will do what’s right.”

Fiscal Officer Kimberly Fallon

Fallon said if reelected as fiscal officer, she would work to be fiscally responsible with resident tax money, working with residents and serving as a team player with trustees and township departments.

“We have so many wonderful residents in the community, and it is my job as fiscal officer to do my best for those residents,” she said in a Morning Journal questionnaire.

The decrease of auditing costs, job responsibilities no longer being contracted out and securing loans and grants on road projects have allowed for more responsibility, she said.

“I have been able to stress the importance of lowering payroll costs by reducing starting wages, which in the past, have reduced the amount of work that can be accomplished,” Fallon said. “I have increased the general fund from $2.4 million in 2013 to $4.5 million in 2018, and will continue to grow.”

Richard R. Willard Jr.

Willard did not submit questionnaire responses to The Morning Journal.