Minamyer to Have Competition for His Symmes Trustee Seat

From the Community Press:

Local architect Phil Beck moved to Symmes in 2000 and is a Navy reservist and an Iraq war veteran. He said his run for trustee is fueled by his enjoyment of community service and his abilities as a problem-solver.

Beck said he hopes to use those abilities to work on regional issues, such as traffic congestion in the area, and the continued development of township parks.

He says he also represents a change in the leadership style that the trustees are currently under.

"I want people to know that and they will when I meet them," Beck said.

Camp Dennison resident Mike Howell said he decided to run to broaden the choices of voters going to the ballot box Nov. 6. He said his priorities if elected would be to create a recreational center in Symmes, possibly with the help of a neighboring community; the development of the Rozzi's property into a multi-functional park, and the creation of more smaller, neighborhood parks.

Howell, a lifelong resident, said he's been involved with township government for about 20 years. He was on the Symmes safety committee until it disbanded in 2002, and says some of his attempts to get on other committees have been met with political backlash.

"Being a trustee is one way I can serve people and not have to worry about being on a committee," Howell said.

This subject came up when Mr. Minamyer met with a few members of the State of Ohio Blogger Alliance a few weeks ago. He's staying on his message:

Minamyer, a 12-year incumbent, said despite his plans to run for the 35th District seat in the Ohio House of Representatives in 2008, he's hoping to retain his seat because he's got unfinished business in Symmes.

"There's still a lot I'm working on that won't be done," he said.

It is going to be up to the voters as to whether or not they can go along with this:

Minamyer said he believes voters will support his plans to possibly leave township government in favor of the house of representatives because of his 12-year commitment to Symmes and his honesty in announcing his candidacy for the state house so early in the process.

I can't speak for anybody other than myself, but when I heard this at the Alliance meeting I wasn't overly convinced that this wasn't about having a fallback position in case he loses the Ohio House race.

I want to go back to something that Mr. Beck is quoted as saying:

He says he also represents a change in the leadership style that the trustees are currently under.

"I want people to know that and they will when I meet them," Beck said.

Now, I find this very interesting. How widespread is this impression of Mr. Minamyer and his fellow colleagues on the Symmes Township Board of Trustees??? It does sort of tie in with one of the weaknesses that I identified earlier:

There are times when you can really tell that Mr. Minamyer has served in the United States Navy for 30+ years achieving high rank. A few times while answering questions from the committee, the atmosphere became a little adversarial (some "blame" for this can be placed on the nature of the inquisition). I would not characterize the session as being remotely hostile; maybe he had an "off day" because previous exposure to Minamyer has been very positive.

Minamyer has a clear passion for politics and has command of the issues effecting the region, but there are hurdles that must be cleared...this is one of them.