Etna Township 'circus' extends to campaign with mock Austin Powers billboards

Etna Township's trustees in western Licking County have spent the better part of the last two years infighting about everything from township security to office décor.

That animosity has now made its way to the campaign trail as the two incumbents fight to earn an ally on the board.

Last week, two billboard ads depicting trustee candidate Gary Burkholder as another version of current trustee Mark Evans were placed and camera footage from Evans's February altercation with a township employee was published on YouTube.

The ads, which first appeared Wednesday, have Evans's and Burkholder's faces photoshopped on the Dr. Evil and Mini-me characters from the "Austin Powers" film series and read "Say No To 2.0" "Stepp Forward" and "Vote Trent Stepp Etna Township Trustee."

Burkholder and Stepp are two of the candidates running to replace Trustee Jeff Johnson, who opted not to seek reelection. Ryan Davis and Steve Perkins are two other candidates in the race.

Evans has endorsed Burkholder on his Facebook page, writing, "Gary Burkholder is the candidate that will restore professionalism and civility to the board."

Stepp's campaign did not pay for the ads, which appear on one billboard between Summit and Rolen roads in the township and on another billboard in the 7000 block of East Main Street in the Franklin County portion of Reynoldsburg.

Evans said the ads show the level of desperation of some people to maintain control in the township.

"It shows that their side is willing to continue the circus which has been going on in Etna, and I even qualify that that gives circuses a bad name. They're at least organized and have a purpose," he said. "This is just used to maintain political control, and that's what it's all about."

Burkholder said this is the side of politics people don't like and he won't be detoured.

"I have said during this whole campaign I'm going to stay focused on the issues and the policies, and the things that need to be fixed but also about my goals and vision for the future," he said.

But there was one aspect of the billboard he appreciated. "I was glad that they used a good picture of me," Burkholder said.

The billboards were paid for by The American Union PAC, a political action committee based out of Cleveland and created on Aug. 1, according the Ohio Secretary of State's Office website. The PAC claims to help "grassroot conservatives achieve victory to put America First and promote our America First agenda." A message left for PAC representatives was not returned.

Trent Stepp said he did not know about the ads before they went up and was sick to his stomach when he learned of them Wednesday while out of town for an annual work retreat. He said he has since been in communication with the PAC and asked that the billboards come down. But as the contract is not in his name, he doesn't have the authority to remove them even though his name does appear on the ads.

"I'm not a negative person, so I don't approve of anything negative," he said. "I feel for myself and my family, not having them there would be better."

Evans claimed Trustee Rozland McKee was involved with the billboards but in a Friday interview, she said she was not aware of them before they appeared.

"I knew nothing about it," she said. "But it is kind of funny though."

February video footage released

Last week also saw video footage from Evans's Feb. 6 altercation with a township staff member posted on YouTube Oct. 6 by an Etna resident. The nearly 40 minutes of footage came from a body camera Evans was wearing during the incident, but he did not originally post it online. He uploaded the video to his own YouTube channel Friday, and said he provided the footage to the Licking County Prosecutor's Office the day after the incident.

In the video, Evans was in his vehicle driving toward the township's hall and he stated he was going there to see public records. After he arrived and made his request, a township employee said they would not talk to Evans while he was wearing the camera and then left. Ryan Davis also entered the township hall seconds after Evans.

McKee was inside the hall prior to Evans arriving and called a Licking County Sheriff's Office deputy requesting they come to the hall. McKee left once the deputy arrived. The deputy then left after speaking with Evans and Davis for a few minutes. Evans then went behind the desk of the employee who left. He looked through multiple folders and documents, took a photo of a piece of paper, and then looked through the employee's email.

Davis never went behind the employee's desk.

Another township employee in the building asks Evans if he was supposed to be on the employee's computer and Evans said he has oversight of the township as a trustee. The two proceed to go back and forth for about a minute over whether Evans is allowed to be on the computer. The employee then reaches over the desk and their hands connect, but the angle of the video doesn't show exactly how. The employee said Evans just assaulted him and Evans responded that the employee came after him. The employee said they were closing the computer.

The employee called the sheriff's deputy back to the hall and he took written statements from the employee, Evans and Davis.

In an interview Friday, Evans said he was told about four days after the incident that the prosecutor's office would not pursue any changes. Evans did not release the footage back in February because he said he didn't want to "continue the nonsense in the township" but added he knew the footage would be shared eventually because he shared it with the prosecutor's office.

Davis said in a Friday interview he was glad he was there to prevent anything worse from happening.

"I'm glad that the public can see it for themselves and understand through their own eyes what actually happened that day," Davis said.

McKee said seeing the video brought her back to the day of the incident, which made her feel scared and intimidated.

"If you've been in a car accident or some kind of harm is done to you, and you go back to that area, it just makes you feel uneasy, and that's what I felt watching that video. I felt very uneasy," she said. "I felt that this man is a threat to our administration."

After the incident, the township approved having a special duty sheriff's deputy at each of their meetings. But no officer has attended any meeting since the action was approved in March. McKee said now the township will request a special duty deputy attends township meetings.

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Etna 'circus' extends to campaign with mock Austin Powers billboards