Sylvania voters face decisions on school, township contests

11/2/2013

Sylvania voters will go to the polls to decide on crowded races for the Sylvania school board and Sylvania Township trustee.

Six candidates are competing for three seats on the five-member Sylvania Board of Education. Up for grabs in the nonpartisan race are a seat held by John Crandall, who is running for Sylvania Township trustee, and seats held by Julie Hoffman and Dave Spiess, both of whom are running for re-election.

Mr. Spiess, 58, a board member since 2002, is also on boards for the Sylvania Area Joint Recreation District and the Sylvania Recreation Corp.

The other incumbent, Ms. Hoffman, 45, is vice president of the drug-prevention organization Sylvania Community Action Team, and she has been a school board member since 2010.

The challengers include Stephen Rothschild, 50, a lawyer, who has experience managing multimillion dollar budgets. He consulted on the Sylvania Athletic Foundation’s gift-acceptance policy.

Carol McElfresh, 58, is a former Sylvania school treasurer. She worked for Toledo Public Schools for 23 years, where she held the position of director of payroll. She is the executive director of the BeInstrumental Foundation.

Kevin Eff, 32, a lawyer, said he is running for his two toddler sons and the children of Sylvania, who he said deserve a quality system of education.

Mark Clark, 55, a commercial Realtor, is involved in the Zenobia Shriners of Northwest Ohio. His three children are district graduates, and he said he wants to maintain its high level of education.

Sylvania city and Sylvania Township residents also can cast votes for two township trustee seats, which pits incumbents Kevin Haddad and John Jennewine, both elected in 2009, against challengers Mr. Crandall, Penny Levine, and Donald Miller. It also is a nonpartisan race.

Mr. Haddad, 58, also serves on the Sylvania Joint Recreation District and is president of the Lucas County Townships Association. He recently called for cutting the township budget if re-elected.

Mr. Jennewine, 47, is the current board chairman. He said the township budget is running thin and said if cuts were made, “people would notice it in service.”

Mr. Crandall said that if elected, he would take a measured approach and promote collaboration. As director of operations for the Lucas County Engineer’s Office, Mr. Crandall, 75, oversaw road, bridge, and drainage projects before retiring.

Mrs. Levine, 58, is running for a third time. An advocate of the fire and police departments, she was seen as instrumental in securing the fire levy in 2009.

Multibusiness owner Don Miller, 39, is running to promote fiscal responsibility and said he knows further state cuts are on the horizon.

Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at: 419-206-0356, ntrusso@theblade.com, or on Twitter @natalietrusso.