BUTLER COUNTY
Early voting started Wednesday for the Nov. 7 election, and some Butler County races are already heating up with accusations of misconduct and more thrown about.
Here are three examples:
1. Butler County Democrats launch website targeting West Chester trustee
Those who want to see West Chester Twp. Trustee Mark Welch lose in November have launched an opposition website while the candidate’s landing page is still “under construction.”
Butler County Democrats launched MarkWelchForTrustee.org on Tuesday, the day before early voting was set to start in Ohio. The landing page of Welch’s campaign site — MarkWelchForTrustee.com — indicated as of Thursday morning the site is not ready, but an Internet search found live links to the site’s pages.
The opposition website consists primarily of news stories and court filings over the past four years, but Welch said the claims “are shallow” and involve “extenuating circumstances.”
“The township is being run by special interests at the expense of West Chester families. It’s time to clean up West Chester government and start fresh with new leadership,” said Butler County Democratic Party Executive Chairwoman Jocelyn Bucaro.
2. Lakota board candidates dispute 1 man’s claims he is sole block to higher taxes
Lakota Board of Education Vice President Todd Parnell told the Journal-News: “I am the only fiscal conservative running” and if voters were to choose some of the other five candidates, residents risk seeing a school tax hike.
The other school board candidates say Parnell’s claim isn’t so.
“It is disingenuous for Mr. Parnell to guarantee there will be no levy while he is on the board….
