By NANCY ALLEN
nallen@dailystandard.com
Voters in Dublin Township near Rockford and in Washington Township
north of Fort Recovery will decide on one open trustee seat
in each township on Election Day, Nov. 4.
        
Voters in Liberty Township north of Wabash will elect a township
clerk.
Dublin Township
Three candidates are running for one unexpired trustee seat
in Dublin Township, which was left open when former trustee
Butch Stetler died on Jan. 2.
Mike Riley, 501 W. Pearl St., Rockford, was appointed on Jan.
20 to fill Stetler’s seat, but by law the position requires
a vote because Riley was appointed within the first half of
the four-year term.
Running for the remaining two years in this trustee seat are
Riley, Dave Bigham, 312 W. Pearl St., Rockford, and Bart Walls,
4936 Andrews Road, Rockford.
Riley, 61, is a grain farmer and until a year-and-a-half ago
owned and operated Riley Chevrolet Inc. in the village of Rockford.
He is a Republican and said the reason he is running for the
position is so he can work for the good of the township.
Riley said there are no specific issues he would address if
elected, adding that he feels things are running smoothly in
the township. He wants to keep the six cemeteries in the township
looking nice and the roads well plowed and maintained.
“We as trustees help with funerals and we oversee and
take care of the cemeteries and plow the snow in the winter
in the whole township,” Riley said. “We have a road
man who does a majority of the snow plowing in the winter and
we help out too.”
Riley has never been elected to public office.
Bigham, 65, is making his fourth try to become an elected trustee
following recent narrow losses. Bigham is retired from driving
a school bus and working as a custodian for Parkway Local Schools
for 30 years.
Though he has never held public office, Bigham worked as a road
maintenance worker for Dublin Township and also was the sexton
for the township’s six cemeteries from 1983 to 1993.
“I have the time, and I’m interested in keeping
the roads and rights of way in good condition and like to see
the cemeteries kept up,” Bigham, a Republican, said.
Like Riley, Bigham said there are not specific issues he would
address if elected and feels the township is running smoothly.
His goal would be to try to keep everyone satisfied, be open-minded
to people’s suggestions and listen to anyone who wants
heard.
Walls, 39, is a factory laborer and a grain farmer. He also
owns Mercer and Auglaize Roofing with his father.
An independent, Walls said he is running for trustee because
it is something he’s always wanted to do. There are no
specific issues he would address if elected, he said, adding
that he has no complaints with how the township is being run
now.
He said the experience and decision-making skills he has gained
working construction and roofing projects would serve him well
as a trustee.
Walls has never held a public office.
Washington Township
Four people are running for one trustee seat in Washington Township.
The winner will fill the four-year term of Jerry Powell of Coldwater,
who did not seek re-election.
Candidates are Dale Boeckman,
See TOWNSHIPS, page 4A
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