By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

Thursday evening’s audience for the Galion Candidates Night was so large emcee Greg Kirk spent a good deal of the opening segment setting up more chairs. The attendance was befitting a night when the rhetoric of the evening continually placed the emphasis on community and working together.

The Galion Building and Loan served as the venue, with Kirk serving as moderator, and Galion Live was the hosting entity.

Setting the tone for community, Kirk began by thanking everyone who was running for office, and commented that he was friends with all of them. When laying out the rules of three minutes per candidate, he even snuck in a playful jibe about incumbent mayor Tom O’Leary’s loquacity. It was well received, most of all by O’Leary himself.

After each candidate was given a chance to speak, the floor was turned over to the audience for questions. There were paper forms for writing the questions, which would be directed not toward individuals, but toward a particular office. As it played out, due to the relaxed atmosphere, those wishing to ask questions simply offered them verbally.

As the candidates took turns highlighting their backgrounds and qualifications, the emphasis on community quickly became clear. Nearly all the candidates involved are Galion lifers, or have lived in Galion for all but a short spell.

One of the few who could not, “boast of being born and raised,” in Galion was current council president Don Faulds. However, Faulds is not exactly fresh from the road, as he moved here with his family in 1961. Placed next to these standards of longevity, Dr. Tom Fellner is a veritable newcomer, having moved here in 1991.

City council candidate Jon Kleinknecht said, when speaking of his life and his family, “Everything I’ve got is in Galion.”

There was also talk of moving forward with the new style of government. The important fact of the change in administration is not whether you were for, or you were against, but that it took place and now it is time to proceed.

Roberta Wade called these initial seven month terms, “the short term” and the upcoming cycle will be, “the long term.”

“We’re getting our sea legs,” O’Leary said.

All told, 14 of the 18 candidates on the ballot took to the podium, with the exception of Andy Daniels due to his resignation. Not in attendance were mayoral candidate David Dayne, and council candidates Steve Rowan and Michael Richart.

The races are as follows. Mayor: David Dayne and Tom O’Leary. President of Council: Don Faulds and Marcy Porter. Auditor: Dianna Beachy, Rodney Sparks, and Brian Treisch. Director of Law: Thomas Palmer and Roberta Wade. Council-At-Large (Vote for three): Gail Baldinger, Shirley Clark, Thomas Fellner, and Jon Kleinknecht. First ward: Eric Webber. Second Ward: Steve Rowan. Third ward: Michael Richart. Fourth Ward: Carl Watt.