Joe Wharton was a Prairie Township Trustee from 2002—2005 below is some of his actions while in office and while running for office

While campaigning for Prairie Township Trustee in 2001 Joe Wharton made false statements about an incumbent opponent, click here to read Joe’s 2001 campaign flyer. In this flyer Joe makes two false statements. The first was that Larry Worthington was related to Prairie Township Fire Chief Ron Lavely and the second was that his opponent offered to pay for a traffic light at the corner of Galloway and Hall roads. After the election both of these statements were proven to be false, and rather than apologize, all Joe said was, “I was misinformed”, which means Joe takes no responsibility for his statements and fails to check the truth before making such statements.

I expect Joe to use the same negative campaign strategy that he used it 2001. My campaign will be based on factual information from the last 4 years, and from the previous 4 years when Joe held office. Four years ago the Township was in so much turmoil that there were seven candidates running for the two Trustee seats. Six of the candidates ran on platforms that addressed the rate of township spending. The other candidate was an incumbent that was not reelected. Click here for a spread sheet showing the Township’s receipts and disbursements for each of the last twelve years. Pay close attention to the last line on this spread sheet, which shows that during Joe’s 4-year term from 2002-2005, the Township spent $3,991,287 more than it received. Compare this to the last 3 years under the current board, where you will see a increase in reserves of $391,034. Not only did the Township spend almost $4 million of its reserves, In addition, Joe and the other two Trustees had a “Finding for Recovery” for public monies illegally spent issued by the Ohio Auditor of State, click here to read why . A legal opinion, written by the Township’s legal counsel to the previous Board, stated the Township had no authority to spend Township money on private property, but Joe and the other two Trustees ignored this opinion and proceeded with the private property improvements, click here to the legal opinion.

Joe also wanted to enter an agreement with Ohio American Water (OAW) to build a second operation within the township, click here to read Joe own words. It’s hard to imagine what kind of financial shape the Township would be in today if Joe‘s plans had resulted in a second operation by OAW. Our current residents that have OAW service currently pay some of the highest water and sewer bills anywhere. These small plants have proven that they cannot be operated efficiently, but Joe said it was the only way to stop Columbus from annexing Township land. The current board has entered into an agreement with Columbus and 9 other entities ( the Darby Accord) that will provide water and sewer to the Accord area without annexation. The first water and sewer agreement has been signed for 1000 taps for vacant land located northeast of Galloway and Alike roads. 

Looking back on Joe’s term in office, 2002-2005, saw Prairie Township go on a 4-year spending spree. The Township spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorney fee’s to try to build water and sewer plants on Hellbranch Creek that most residents were against. But this didn’t matter because Joe would not listen to what the majority of residents wanted. You should also remember the Property Maintenance Code, the Ohio American Water Franchise Agreement, and the proposed trash contract where over 200 residents showed up at public meetings voicing their displeasure, but Joe still voted against the majority’s wishes and voted for all three.

I could go on about other concerns during Joe’s recent 4-year term, but I will stop here. Because of the above reasons, and others, I don’t believe Prairie Township can afford another 4 years of Joe Wharton.

Paid for by Committee to re-elect Kennedy, 6611 W. Broad St., Galloway, Ohio 43119