Photo courtesy: Mahoning Matters 

 

Residents from the City of Canfield heard from the minds of three candidates running for mayor on Wednesday night.

Don Dragish, Bruce Neff and Kathryn Young are up for the seat that will be left vacant after current mayor Richard Duffet announced he would not seek re-election. The three spoke at a forum at the Canfield City Building where 21 News reporter Andrew DiPaolo served as moderator for the event.

Dragish is a businessman who once served on the city's council as president, Neff currently serves as a Canfield city council member, and Young serves on Canfield's park, recreation and cemetery board.

The candidates were asked questions spanning from economic development, flooding concerns, speeding issues, infrastructure and the city's charter amendments. 

Canfield residents also have a number of issues they will see on the ballot when election day comes November 2 with 10 total items being up for decision.

While most issues range from tax levies, school board candidates and a liquor license, there are two issues that impact elected officials.

Proposed charter amendment 3.01 would see elected council members in the city have their terms cut in half from four to two years long. If the amendment gets enough yes votes it would go into place in November 2023. Council members would also not be able to serve more than four consecutive terms.

The amendment was placed on the ballot after a man from Nashville, Tennessee named Mark Brooks organized a petition in Ohio to set the term limit. Brooks claimed to be with the Utility Workers Union of America. He spoke at a council meeting in June saying that term limits used to be two years, instead of four. He arranged for several Ohio residents to petition for his idea and got 23 signatures in total from residents. 

Then there is a proposed amendment to section 5.08 of the Canfield city charter, which says that electors may remove a city manager who serves for at least six months. If voted yes, the policy for that situation would be the same as a recall election.

The amendment adds that if a manager is removed from office, they may not be employed by the city for four years after having their position taken away. Although a removed city manager could still be a candidate for an elected office in Canfield.