By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

Galion’s political candidates gathered at the Eighteen O-Three Taproom Monday night for an informal meet and greet. The informal nature meant that there was no podium and no prescribed speaking times for individuals. Instead, candidates and voters mixed and mingled about the room, and questions were asked and answered in a more relaxed, conversational style.

Sara Capretta is a sitting council member, and defending her seat in Ward 1 unopposed. This gave perhaps a slightly more relaxing evening than some of the candidates running in contested elections. With this position in mind, she took it upon herself to organize this gathering, and invitations were extended to everyone running for office this November.

“I think people are more comfortable in an informal setting,” Capretta said of the format choice, “More approachable.”

She also thought that the choice of venue was a good way to show community support for a new business in town. Owners Chris Stone and Amie Hoff were part of the hosting party and appropriately turned off the taps for an election-related event.

Capretta stated her reason for organizing the event, despite running in an uncontested race herself, as, “What I ask of everybody is to be educated before they go out and vote. That you know the candidates and what their vision for Galion is.”

A quick rundown of the various races: as stated above Capretta is unopposed in Ward 1, Mark Triplett is unopposed in Ward 2, Mike Richart is the incumbent and Jim Hedges the challenger in Ward 3, and Susan Bean is running unopposed in Ward 4. In the at-large seats, Thomas Fellner and Shirley Clark are defending their seats, Jon Kleinknecht elected not to defend his. The challengers are Paula Durbin, Judy Gibson, and Gail Baldinger. From this group of five, three will be elected. Carl Watt is running unopposed for Council President. In the Treasurer’s race it is two newcomers, Bill Comersford versus Rod Sparks, as Durbin is running for council. The offices of mayor, auditor, and law director are not on the ballot this year.

As is not unusual, the at-large contest has the most horses in the field: five running for three places. The field yields some familiar names, but some of those familiar names currently hold outsider status. Gail Baldinger was a member of Council for five-and-one-half years from the Ward 3, and council president for three-and-one-half years under to the old city charter. Paula Durbin has been treasurer since the change in government, and Judy Gibson has run unsuccessfully for office before and has worked a lot of hours with Shirley Clark for the Parks and Recreation Committee.

“I do enjoy it,” Baldinger said on why he was running again, “I really do miss being a part of it.”

Baldinger has been a lifelong member of the Galion community, a firefighter for 23 years, and run multiple businesses in town. One of the big reasons he’s pursuing council again is the city’s continuing status of fiscal emergency.

“The city’s not out yet, and that was always my goal.” Baldinger said.

Judy Gibson has been a Galion resident since 1960, “I love this town. This is home,” she said. As stated above, she had run for the 2nd ward seat in the past, and has spent many years working behind the scenes with the Shirley and the Parks Department. She stated that Clark was the one, when Kleinknecht decided not to defend his seat that urged her to run.

“Galion has been very good to us,” Gibson continued, “I guess I just want to see if I can’t help in some way.”

Paula Durbin was not present to give her reasons for running.

Moving to the incumbents, Fellner has been here since 1991, running a dental practice in town. He has been on council for six-and-one-half years and reflected the general positivity in the room when stating his reasons for running.

“I feel that the city’s moving in a positive direction and I’d like to be part of that continuing,” Fellner said.

He cited his view that he is a steady hand at the wheel, and has proved himself willing and able to listen to members of all parties.

“I think my strong suit is that I’ll listen to both sides,” Fellner said, “I also feel that I am able to handle the city’s business with grace and maturity.”

Shirley Clark is the other incumbent in the at large race, is well known for her commitment to the parks department in her six-and-one-half years in office. She outlined one of her passions as trying to restore activities for young people in town, adding that that has been an area where the city has been deficient for years.

“Galion has so much potential,” Clark said, adding her desire to see the city as a whole work together.

Moving over to Ward 2, Jim Hedges, the challenger, expressed his hope to be, “the voice for the people of Galion, for a positive Galion.”

Hedges cited his long time membership of the community as one of his strengths. “I’m them. I’ve lived in Galion my whole life. I’ve seen the good, the bad, the worst, and the ugly. If somebody has a problem, they can come and see me.”

When asked what made him decide to enter the race, Hedges simply said, “If you want to make a change, do something about it.” That was his personal reason for running, but he also had some advice for the electorate as a whole,

“If the people of Galion want to make a difference, they need to get out and vote.”

Mike Richart is the incumbent for the Ward 2 seat and he continued the narrative of positive movement, but not quite destination reached.

“Well, because I think there’s a lot of unfinished business getting this community back on its feet. We are only two and a half years into this, there are still things to do.”

Richart cited the modernization of the billing office, going from sorting bills by hand a few years ago to now a fully functional online billing system, as well as making electric rates much more competitive with surrounding communities, as definite successes.

“We have a great opportunity and this is a great opportunity,” Richart went on, “I was asked to run for this office, and I think that it’s been a privilege to serve the community and that’s why I’m running again.”

The treasurer’s race is the only one without an incumbent, as newcomers Bill Comersford and Rod Sparks are vying for Durbin’s vacated seat as she runs for City Council. Comersford has been the manager of a Rite Aid in Marion for 12 years and has a finance degree from the University of Toledo. Comersford said that in this capacity he has had to work with many different types of people, from customers to employees. He also expressed his, “Love of the numbers side.” He said that one of his “Most exciting” days is when the profit and loss statements come out. As store manager, he loves the opportunity to comb through these numbers and find areas where he can make his store more competitive.

Rod Sparks was not present to give his reasons for running.