General Election results are in for the township and a quick congratulations to all of the winners from yesterday’s election. Also, a quick thanks to all of those who ran for office – your dedication and love for this township is immensely appreciated.
Obviously there were no surprises in the race for Supervisor and Treasurer as those seats were uncontested. Walt Wilburn (Supervisor) and Sherri Meyer (Treasurer) will serve another four years for our township.
In what I won’t call an upset but perhaps a surprise Clerk Bob Schockman held onto his post for another four years. Mr. Schockman held off George Welling who ran a tough and spirited campaign for the Clerk’s office. Mr. Schockman won 9 of 14 precints but the clear advantage came in absentee ballots (I am guessing that is what the AV stands for on the pdf sheet) where Schockman picked up 525 votes over Welling; considering the total margin was 818 this was huge. Write in candidate Dennis Steinman reportedly garnered 15 votes.
In the race for Trustee I would say there were some surprises, serious surprises. Former County Commissioner Gail Hauser-Hurley ran away with the vote total and will serve her first term on the board as will former Bedford Public Schools Superintendent James Goebel (the big shocker). Both Larry O’Dell and Paul Francis will be holdovers from the previous board.
The surprise in the trustee race, to me, is the elimination of Rick Steiner from the board, and the selection of Goebel and not Tom Covrett who is the chairman of the Planning Commission. I do think that Mr. Covrett perhaps lost some votes over his handling of the PC meeting on the Whitman property rezoning. I had assumed that Mr. Goebel would struggle due to the notion that he did not effectively lead our schools. Maybe I am the only one surprised, maybe not.
Finally, for the first time in 28 years of township board will not feature a familiar face in Dennis Steinman. I hope that, regardless of how you may feel, that we will all take the opportunity when we have it to thank Mr. Steinman for the years and countless hours he has given to this community. Not only has Mr. Steinman given back to this community he has raised his family to do the same; Tim has given generously of his time and I know was recently involved in landscaping at the Pocket Part and Doug is a volunteer fireman at the Lambertville station. Allow me to be the first to publicly thank Mr. Steinman and his family for all they have done and I am sure will continue to do for our township, thank you.
What does everyone else think? Surprised, disappointed? Share your thoughts, thanks!
Tags: Bob Schockman, Dennis Steinman, Gail Hauser-Hurley, George Welling, James Goebel, Paul Francis, Planning Commission, Rick Steiner, Sherri Meyer, Tom Covrett, Walt Wilburn, Whitman
Left Bedford for good in 1978 and moved south. Obvious to me that the local mafia is still running the township. Pearl-Albert Green is even still around? She must be a centurian by now. Steiner was a true loss. Went to high school with him – a great genuine guy. Shockman is a disgrace to the taxpayer with the computer thing. Elected officals in my state have been removed by the Governor for such things. With 30K residents, its time Bedford becomes a charter township and hire a professional administrator or manager rather than have two or three high paid elected bureaucrats. Too many conflicts of interest. The Township Board can’t even manage rezonings or franchise agreements right.
Hey refugee thanks for commenting.
I tend to agree with the idea of becoming a charter township or even possible city incorporation. Seeing as how Bedford has become Toledo’s largest suburb and is the most populated area in Monroe County it may be time.
FYI 4 separate entities found no wrong doing by Schockman for what its worth.
I think I might look into the diferences and some pros and cons on the two different township systems are. Might be some interesting insight.
Thanks again for commenting.
Keith, thanks for your thoughts on the election. I join you in thanking Denny Steinman and the rest of the Steinman family for their community involvement. Denny gave tirelessly to this community for 28 years and my guess is he will continue to work for the good of Bedford Township and the citizens who live here.
Additionally, in the spirit of President Elect Obama, I hope all in our Township can find a way to stand together, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, to work for the betterment of our collective local state, and national community.