Jim Roper, Perry Township Trustee

STRAIGHT FORWARD ANSWERS TO 12 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
(Questions 1 - 6)

By Jim Roper and Andy English

As you can imagine, we have been getting numerous questions from residents about recent campaign mailings. We have not and will not engage in negative campaign tactics. At the same time, we cannot let misleading or false statements stand. Below are straight forward answers to questions that have been asked of us. Here are question 1- 6.

1. I GOT A MAILER FROM JILL REARDON THAT SAYS PERRY TOWNSHIP HAS STEADILY RAISED TAXES FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS. IS THAT TRUE?

No. Only 21% of your property taxes go to Perry Township. The rest go to Worthington Schools and eight other groups like senior services and the library. Your taxes are going up because these other groups take 79% of your taxes and they are passing levies.

Over the past 10 years, Perry Township asked voters to renew or replace four expiring road levies. The amounts have always been the same: 1.5 mills. We have also asked voters to approve two police levies. One resulted in a tax decrease for most voters and one resulted in a slight increase. The net effect of these Perry Township levies over 10 years is about $75 annually per $100,000 of property evaluation.

2. I WAS TOLD PERRY TOWNSHIP POLICE ARE ENDORSING JILL REARDON

That is not true. The Fraternal Order of Police (F.O.P.) has endorsed both Ms. Reardon and Jim Roper. The F.O.P. is a local union that represents police officers in Franklin County in collective bargaining agreements. The F.O.P has nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of the Perry Township Police Department.

3. I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE THAT INDICATES JILL REARDON HAS HELPED OUR OFFICERS. HOW HAS SHE DONE THAT?

Ms. Reardon has not provided any support to Perry Police officers. And Perry Police officers are not supporting her or anyone else. Here is what the Perry Township Police Chief has said about this:

“The Perry Township Police Department has not endorsed any candidates for the office of Township Trustee, nor will we. My directive to all the employees of the Perry Township Police Department is we will remain neutral throughout this campaign. We will allow the citizens of Perry Township to determine who they want to represent them as Township Trustees and we (the police) will work with whoever is elected by our residents. In response to other issues raised in the letter, I am not aware of any resources that have been provided by Ms. Reardon to the Police Department or guidance that may have helped improve response times. I am also unaware of any initiative by Ms. Reardon to stretch or save tax dollars in Perry Township.”

John Petrozzi, Perry Township Police Chief (Oct. 23, 2017)

4. I LIVE IN BROOKSIDE ESTATES AND RECEIVED A LETTER FROM MS. REARDON THAT SAYS SHE WOULD HAVE VOTED “NO” ON THE KOREAN CHURCH ZONING LAWSUIT. WHAT WAS THAT LAWSUIT ABOUT?

The lawsuit was an appeal by the Korean Church regarding two zoning variances they requested. The Court strongly recommended both sides settle the case. Perry Township had at least seven meetings with Brookside residents over 12 months to decide whether to reach a compromise or continue with litigation. Ms. Reardon did not attend any of these meetings.

After hearing the pros and cons of settlement versus litigation, the residents who attended the vote meeting were asked how they wanted the issue resolved. Over 90% of Brookside residents in attendance wanted to settle. The vote was 47-3. Mr. English and I then voted to support those residents. Mr. Chaney voted to continue with litigation.

5. WE HEAR THAT BROOKSIDE COUNTRY CLUB IS CONSIDERING OPENING UP IONE COURT FOR A NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. IS THAT TRUE?

No. The country club has been looking at areas around the club for possible new homes for some time. We have been monitoring the situation. This summer, the club narrowed its choices to three areas. None of those areas had anything whatsoever to do with Ione Court or opening Ione Court. We personally spoke with the club manager on October 17, 2017 and this was confirmed.

The club is now down to two locations. Again, neither involves Ione Court or opening Ione Court. The club will vote regarding these locations in December. The club’s general manager confirmed this to us on November 2, 2017.

Brookside residents have also been told that the club is looking at Ione Court as a second entrance to the club. That is not true either. The club has no plan to seek a second entrance at Ione Court. The club’s general manager also confirmed this to us on November 2, 2017.

6. I JUST RECEIVED A MAILER FROM JILL REARDON THAT THE TOWNSHIP HAS INCURRED ????? IN LEGAL FEES FOR AN ONGOING ZONING CODE DISPUTE. WHAT IS THE DISPUTE?

This involves the Korean Church request for a zoning variance. The Korean Church initiated the lawsuit. Perry had to defend that lawsuit. As indicated in the answer above, that lawsuit was recently settled. Ms. Reardon has gone on record as saying she would not have supported that settlement even though 90% of Brookside residents wanted to settle, and even though continuing the lawsuit would create even more legal costs.

We hope this answers your questions.

Sincerely,

Jim Roper and Andy English

Recycling. Making Perry Township Green.

I have posted a lot over the past few weeks about all the cost saving measures I helped put in place since being elected your Perry Township trustee. But, I’m also proud of other accomplishments.

When I was first elected your trustee, we didn’t have curbside recycling. I worked hard to change all of that.

In 2010, I voted to bring recycling to our community. We started out with 18-gallon bins. Remember those? As recycling increased, we needed to change our collection method. In 2013, we went from using the 18-gallon bins to our current 65-gallon recycle wheeled containers. And, we reduced the cost of our weekly trash collection services by 23%. Also, I voted to give all Perry Township senior citizens a 10% discount. We need to take care of seniors on a fixed income.

If re-elected, I will take Perry Township recycling to the next level. My goal is to swap our current 96-gallon trash containers with our current 65-gallon recycle containers. In other words, we will be recycling more and adding less to our landfills. I will also work with our neighbors in Sharon Township to help bring recycling to all of our neighborhoods. There is no reason every local government in Central Ohio can’t follow Perry Township’s lead and save our landfills and protect the environment.

I’ve had a number of questions about the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) endorsement for Perry Trustee. Some are under the impression that the FOP endorsed only one candidate. That is not true. The FOP endorsed two trustee candidates – me and Jill Reardon.

I’m honored to receive the FOP endorsement. I’ve been the Perry Township trustee responsible for overseeing our police department for eight years now. There is no other current trustee or trustee candidate who has any experience overseeing a police department.

I know our police officers very well and we work very well together. I’m currently working with our Chief to improve and update our Police Policy and Procedure Manual. This ongoing project will take time to complete. If re-elected, I will work hard to finish this vital task.

I’m proud to say that I’ve been a part of the decision to hire many of our current officers, including Chief Petrozzi. We have actually added more full time officers at no increased cost due to savings in other areas of the department.

As an attorney with over 30 years of experience, and whose firm represents dozens of other police departments outside of Perry Township, I am keenly aware of the differences between a great, an average and a poor police department. My continuing goal is to help make our great police department even better. I’ve been doing that for years, and you can trust me to do that if re-elected.

Jim Roper
Chairman, Perry Township Board of Trustees
Trustee Liaison, Perry Township Police Department