Voters return Bird, VanNess to Granville Township Board of Trustees
GRANVILLE — The Granville Township Board of Trustees may be headed for the smoothest transition possible when former trustee Dan VanNess joins the board to replace Kevin Bennett.
Voters re-elected Bryn Bird and brought VanNess back following a two-year absence to join Rob Schaadt on the three-member board. Bennett did not seek another term.
Bird receved 41% of the vote in Tuesday's general election, followed by VanNess with 35%. Stephen Chaykowski was third with 24%, according to unofficial results.
VanNess, a life-long Granville resident and trustee in 2010-13 and 2016-19, lost his bid for re-election in 2019 when the Licking County Board of Elections invalidated his candidate petitions for "fatal flaws."
“I’m just happy to get back in and do work for the people and try to make our township as efficient as possible," VanNess said. "I worked with Bryn Bird before and had a good relationship with her and I worked with Rob on the zoning commission. I think we’ll get along OK. We have a great community to work with.”
Bird, who moved back to Granville in 2012, has been a trustee since 2017. Her family has sold produce for 26 years at the Granville Farmers Market.
“I think we’ll work really well together," Bird said. "Dan, Kevin and I, and then Kevin, Rob and I always worked very well together. Very respectful of each other. It kind of feels like a rotation of chairs because we’ve all worked together.
“Some townships have unhealthy relationships and we never had, and we feel so thankful. We delegate the work between us. I think that’ll continue to be very good.”
VanNess said his petition error allowed him to work for the township as project manager on the new fire station. Now, the station is built and VanNess is back in his old position.
“It turned out for the best," VanNess said. "Things happen for a reason.”
VanNess said he plans to be a financial watchdog and promote reasonable economic growth in the township.
Bird said she has realized the importance of the township's open space program to preserve land and stop encroaching development from the outside. But, she said that doesn't mean no development. She heard both sides from voters during the campaign.
“There's a mix of concern about residential development pressures and understanding the need to attract appropriate commercial development," Bird said. "Granville has always struggled with that.
“Having three people who know the ropes and are ready to do the work will be nice. I think it’s nice because we’re not going to lose any momentum.”
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
740-973-4539
Twitter: @kmallett1958
Election results
x Bryn Bird: 2,117, 41.0%
x Dan VanNess: 1,818, 35.2%
Stephen Chaykowski: 1,225; 23.7%
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Voters return Bird, VanNess to Granville Township Board of Trustees
