On September 15, village residents will go to the polls to elect four members to its seven-seat council. Two candidates–John Ranville and Mike Toth–are seeking for reelection. Three other candidates–Doug Hobbs, Lawrence Stumkat and Lisa Yee–are also running for the spots.
On August 12, Orion Neighborhood Television (ONTV) hosted a ‘Meet the Candidates? forum. For the next three weeks leading up to the election, The Review will run a selection of the transcripts from the forum so voters can head to the polls more informed about their choices.~JTC

What are the major issues facing the village right now?

Doug Hobbs ? We have a problem with heroin abuse in the village. I know our police are on top of it and I’d like to see the residents be on top of it also. Maybe organize a committee to get something going in the village to have the residents be more aware of what’s going on with their children and about heroin abuse. Second issue is I believe we have to keep an eye on the budget for the infrastructure. We need to look carefully at where cuts might be made. The third issue is communication. The reason that I’m up here tonight is because I went to a meeting about a year and a half ago to say something about the communication item about the last election I was at.

Lisa Yee ? Heroin and drug use is a problem in the community. We’re lucky to have the Keep Coming Back Club in the village. So that’s a major advantage to help this problem.

Mike Toth ? I think the village has done a very good job in planning for the future. The four years that I’ve done a budget here in the village, we’ve constantly worked towards cutting costs, looking at our outlook, making sure we’re good. And the budget is set. It was said by the treasurer, our manager and our village council members that our budget is good, out outlook is good. We’re fiscally sound, which is great to say in these times. As far as the heroin issue ? it is a problem. I’ve spoken with the chief several times about it, and the police are doing an excellent job working on it. It’s a problem across the board right now, and unfortunately it’s just an issue that you deal with. For me, communication has always been a big one. That’s why I pushed for email on the Web site. Unfortunately it didn’t get through, but I’m going to continue to push for it. There’s support for it on the council and I’m hoping that after this election we will have greater support. But the village is doing very well on its own and I think it will continue to.

Lawrence Stumkat ? After doing a fair amount of leg work and talking to many residents, one question keeps on coming up: due to the fact that our properties are falling in value, are we going to get a fair evaluation on our property value? Everybody’s concerned about this because it reflects on the budget. These are ideas that we’re going to be confronted with. And we’re going to have to really tighten up. We don’t know what’s ahead of us in uncharted times. These are concerns that I’ve talked to many residents about. Again, the communication. I’d like to be a vehicle for that. Those are two items that I’ve been confronted with when I did my leg work as far as campaigning.