Akron Beacon Journal (OH) - Saturday, October 24, 2009
Author: Gina Mace , Special to the Beacon Journal
It is half past noon on a Saturday in October, with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees.
Stow Councilwomen Mary Bednar and Janet D'Antonio are bundled in winter coats. They've been out for more than an hour already, walking, knocking on doors and talking to residents in the Kames condominium development on Berkshire Road.
This is Ward 4, where Bednar won by more than 500 votes during her first election four years ago. Then in 2007, she ran unopposed for a second term.
This year, Bednar faces Joe Hickin, who with his brother, Mark Hickin, owns JMJ Transportation in Akron.
Mark Hickin is running for a seat in Ward 2 against Councilman James Costello.
Joe Hickin thinks the current Stow administration is making ''a lot of bad decisions.'' He disagrees with the city's purchase of Fox Den golf course three years ago.
''I don't believe the government should own and operate businesses,'' Hickin said.
Hickin said city officials should have seen the downturn in the economy coming, and that years of overspending contributed to current financial problems. The courthouse is another example of overspending, he said.
''I believe Stow government should be responsible for roads, water and sewer, police and fire,'' Hickin said. ''They're not responsible for building business. What they want to do is create a larger tax base to give themselves more money.''
If elected, Hickin said, he will propose that the council take a 20 percent pay cut.
Currently, council members are paid about $16,600, with the president receiving an additional $1,000. This year, the council voted to freeze its pay.
A newcomer to politics, Hickin might have an advantage. His is the only name that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot for the Ward 4 seat.
One of Bednar's petitions was disqualified, leaving her short of the signatures required to place her name on the ballot. She won the first appeal, but lost the second.
So Bednar decided to run as a write-in candidate.
On this Saturday, when a woman answered the door at a home in the 1100 block of Inverness Lane, Bednar introduces herself, handed her a flier and explained how to vote for a write-in.
''It's easy,'' Bednar said. ''Just write my name on the line and fill in the bubble.''
Bednar, a career counselor at Schnee Learning Center in Cuyahoga Falls, said every piece of literature she hands out, and most of her signs, was created to educate Ward 4 voters on how to vote for a write-in candidate.
''I love my job,'' Bednar said. ''I feel like I'm doing a good job, and I want to continue doing a good job.''
Hickin said that as a business owner, he has leadership skills Bednar doesn't. As a member of the council, Hickin would address the ward's storm sewer issues. The development of the Seasons Road area is inviting flooding problems, he said.
''There's a storm drainage issue that's gone on for 40 years that no one has addressed,'' Hickin said.
Bednar disagreed.
''Something I've worked very hard on is the storm-water legislation,'' she said. ''We worked hard to make the Stow legislation the strongest storm-water management in the area for development.''
Any new development ? including a proposed hospital near the Seasons Road interchange ? must be able to handle storm water equal to that of a 100-year flood.
''They can't mess with any wetlands, can't sit close to the stream banks,'' she said. ''It's going to make it very difficult for them to come within 500 feet of Wyoga Lake Estates. There will be a natural barrier of trees and shrubs.''
Bednar said she thinks her opponent is using fear instead of facts to garner votes.
''I care for my residents, I respect my residents and I hate the fact that someone is unnecessarily inciting fear,'' she said.
Copyright (c) 2009 Akron Beacon Journal
