Of Flour and Sugar for Local Widows, and Forums for Village Managers

Dear People--Well, it's been a busy week for me at school, and the month of October is going to be a bit on the insane side--a whole bunch of meetings, plus midterm grading. Any calming, supportive thoughts, prayers, or karma you can send my way will be appreciated. Two big meetings: first, our normal October meeting on Monday at 7 pm &, second, on Tuesday, the first (of three) village manager candidate forum, in rooms A&B, 7:30 pm.

Wheeling Gaunt, ex-slave, philanthropist

Monday's meeting: LEGISLATION: One ordinance--regarding transferring money from the general fund to the police pension fund as an emergency ordinance. My assumption is that this is a fairly normal procedure, but it is $55,000, which is a fairly large amount of money, so I would like a better understanding of what's going on, precisely. And ...

A Slew o' Resolutions:

• First, we're sending four official appreciations in response to work done during/after the "Wind Event" (I love that title...was it black tie?) to 1) all village employees and staff, 2) the Miami TWP Fire & Rescue; 3) AMP-Ohio, and 4) the Mutual Aid Communities who helped make the village response to the remnant hurricane so successful. (I'd like to add a shout out to Kurt and the Emporium staff, although I admit I am a little biased...)
• An authorization for the Interim Village Manager to sign an agreement with ODOT to complete work on the access road for the CBE (Center for Business and Education--where Antioch McGregor is).
• And, everyone's favorite resolution, the annual Wheeling Gaunt Flour and Sugar expenditure, for all local widows. (The link takes you to the Yellow Springs News' history column that covers the period from 1883-1898; if you scroll all the way to the last segment on the page, you can read all about the life of ex-slave, business man, and philanthropist, Wheeling Gaunt, and the stipulations of his will.)
• And, another friendly one, the Begger's night expenditure resolution.

The village solicitor has recommended that we remove a planned resolution regarding the Stutzman's lease from the agenda, and discuss it in executive session due to legal concerns.

After we hear any citizens' concerns that may be raised, we'll

• have a brief report on the village manager search (officially announcing the finalists) and
  
• make an appointment to the Cable Advisory Panel and
  
• have the manager's report on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Clarifier Project, Pool Repair & Painting.
• and close with brief agenda planning; our next meeting will be devoted to the third village manager forum on the 20th.
  

TUESDAY: Village Manager Forum, 7:30 pm. I am quite pleased with the pool of candidates we received and the three top candidates we have chosen--with a great degree of unanimity--to interview (plus two back ups, if any of these three drop out for any reason):

Tuesday October 7 - Mark Cundiff — From YS News: "Cundiff has worked for seven years as the planning director for Troy, Ohio, a city of 22,000 people. From 1998 to 2001 he was the city manager of Greenville, Ill., population 6,400, where he administered a $7.7 million budget and oversaw 40 full-time employees. From 1994 to 1998 Cundiff was the assistant city manager of Sidney, Ohio, where he also served as the community development director from 1991 to 1994 and the city planner for three years prior to that. He has a masters in applied behavioral science with a concentration in community development and planning from Wright State University and a bachelors in political science with a concentration in public administration."

Monday October 13 - Randy Bukas-- "Bukas has served for over three years as the village manager of Germantown, Ohio, a village of 5,000. From 1996 to 2005 Bukas worked as the village administrator for Whitehouse, Ohio, and also served for three years prior as the city administrator, clerk and treasurer for the town of Lodi, Wis. He has a masters in public administration from Roosevelt University."

Monday October 20 - Nancy Benroth -- "Benroth has served for 11 years as the assistant village administrator of Bluffton, a town of 3,800 in northwest Ohio. In Bluffton she oversaw projects for the local parks system and served on the steering committee and outreach education team for the Blanchard River Watershed Partnership. Prior to that, Benroth spent eight years as the budgetary and payroll clerk for the village of Ottawa, Ohio. She has a bachelors in public administration from the University of Findlay and an associate degree in applied business."

Peace,
Lori