Race for mayor nomination, two levies on primary ballot

COSHOCTON − There is one competitive race in the City of Coshocton along with property tax levies for Coshocton City Schools and Coshocton County Job and Family Services slated for the May 2 primary ballot.

The deadline to file for the primary was Wednesday. The Coshocton County Board of Elections will meet Tuesday to validate all candidates and issues.

Tom Heading and Stan Braxton are vying for the Republican nomination for mayor of Coshocton. The winner will challenge incumbent Democrat Mark Mills in the fall general election. Mills is seeking a second term, having defeated incumbent Republican Steve Mercer four years ago.

Heading is a research and development chemist for Wiley Companies. He's a member of the Coshocton Tree Commission and Coshocton in Bloom and former president of the United Way of Coshocton County board. Braxton is pastor of Upper Room Assembly and Worship Center and Spring Mountain Chapel Association. He retired as a captain with the Coshocton Fire Department in April 2022 after nearly 25 years of service.

Two other city races will be competitive in the fall general election for law director and city council at-large.

Incumbent Democrat Bob Skelton is being challenged by Republican William Todd Drown for law director. Drown lost the Republican primary last year for judge of Coshocton County Common Pleas Court to incumbent Robert Batchelor.

One Democrat and three Republicans are going after three available at-large seats on council. Democrat Michelle Turner Ganz and Republican Tom Barcroft are the incumbents. The newcomer Republicans are Robert Leist and James Kreis. Leist ran for city council twice before as an independent and lost.

One at-large seat is currently open upon the resignation of Glenn Mishler at the last regular meeting of city council due to health reasons. The Coshocton County Republican Central Committee has yet to announce a replacement. It's unknown if Leist or Kreis are being considered for the post.

There were no filings for 1st ward on city council. However, that seat is currently held by independent Mike Gross. Independents have a later deadline to file than party candidates. Gross told the Tribune he plans to run for a new term. At this time, Gross would be unopposed in the fall.

Others unopposed at this time, barring the filing of independent or write-in candidates, include Tim France for judge of Coshocton Municipal Court, Sherry Kirkpatrick for Coshocton City auditor, Tom Hilgenberg for president of city council, Chad Johnson for council 2nd ward, Roger Moore for council 3rd ward and Kayley Andrews for council 4th ward. All are currently in those positions.

Levies

A county wide property tax levy of 1-mill for five years is being sought to provide support for children services related to the care, protection and placement of abused, neglected and dependent children. It's estimated to generate $849,147 a year.

A similar levy was defeated in the fall 2019 general election with 5,212 votes against the levy and 3,719 votes for it, in official vote totals from the board of elections.

Coshocton County Commissioners previously said the levy is needed because of rising foster care costs for mandated services by the state. Jed McCoy, executive director of Coshocton County JFS, said average total revenue from all sources is about $2.4 million. This includes reimbursements, a levy originally passed in 1990 that generates about $446,000 annually and some other sources. However, expenses are currently a bit more than $3 million annually, leaving them about $570,000 short.

McCoy said if the levy passes they also hope to add some new preventive services, such as a school outreach worker.

Coshocton City Schools is seeking a substitute levy for a continuing period of time at 4.81-mills, estimated to generate $900,000 annually. It's for general operations and the current levy was first approved in 2008.

The board of education decided to go for a substitute levy as it would allow them to draw funding from new builds within the school district, where the current levy only draws from existing properties.

A carryover property tax levy from Holmes County for Coshocton County residents who reside in the West Holmes School District is a 2.5-mill renewal for five years going to general permanent improvements.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Race for mayor nomination, two levies on primary ballot