Jeff Schrock: Sugarcreek Village Council

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • October 25, 2011
  • 321
                        
Jeff Schrock: Sugarcreek Village Council PERSONAL INFO Office sought: Sugarcreek Village Council Age: 57 Family: My wife, Jan, of 31 years, passed away in July 2011. I have two grown children: Stacy and Jeffy. Education: I am a 1973 graduate of Hiland High School. Following graduation, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. I served on active duty from 1973-75 as a law enforcement specialist in the security police and was assigned to the Strategic Air Command (SAC). I was honorably discharged from active duty in 1975 and reassigned to the 179th Airlift of the Ohio Air National Guard, serving with the unit until February 1980. Hometown: Sugarcreek Occupation: I have been employed for over 34 years at REXAM (formally Owens-Illinois). I work in the shipping department and run the receiving area. Political party affiliation: None Previous elected offices: I am completing my first term on village council and would like to continue to serve the citizens of Sugarcreek. Applicable experience: I was appointed in December 2009 by Common Pleas Judge Edward O'Farrell to serve on the Tuscarawas County Veterans Service Commission. I represent the American Legion on the five- member commission. I completed 30 years of service on the volunteer fire department, retiring in 2007. I served as captain of the department for 13 years. I have been a member of the Homer Weiss Post 494 of the American Legion for 37 years. I have held numerous offices in the post and the county level. My peers elected me twice in 1985 and 2003 to serve as Tuscarawas County Commander. I serve on the post color guard and funeral details. I am a life member of AMVETS Post #1338 at New Philadelphia. I belong to the Alpine Bible Church and the church worship team. I am a member of the Baltic Conservation Club. I was involved this past year with the Tuscarawas County Memorial Committee to raise funds and erect a memorial to Tuscarawas County Veterans buried at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman. QUESTIONS What is the primary reason you are running for this office? Why should someone vote for you? My whole life I have been involved in community service and want to continue working in this area to better the village. I feel I have been honest, fair, and tried to do my best for our village. I represent the citizens and appreciate their input on all matters before council. What is the biggest problem(s) facing your community? How do you propose to solve it (them)? The economy and how it affects all of us is a big problem. Dealing with all the reductions in income coming back from the State of Ohio is something Sugarcreek and all communities across the state will be dealing with for the next several years. With that in mind we should trim costs as much as we can. Aging infrastructure is a challenge. We must continue replacing water and sewer lines. We have been doing this the past few years. Continuing to upgrade equipment as the money is available needs to be done. We should prioritize these upgrades. Streets and alleys need to be maintained and resurfaced on a schedule. We should maintain the paving of streets yearly and they should be a part of our yearly budget. We must maintain and continue to update our safety services as funding is available. With the implementation of the Bed Tax, in our village, we can use this funding to promote Sugarcreek and attract outsiders to our community. With the loss of state funding we should continue our efforts in the area of economic development to attract businesses to our village. This will help our tax base. Limited only to the office you are seeking, where specifically would you cut budgets if needed? We on council have been looking at all department appropriations in the past and will so in the future, to adjust the amounts as needed. Cutting amounts involves looking at our total appropriations and considering also the amounts coming in at the time. We must consider the state cutting its funding when we look at those figures. Why are you running for public office? Why do you think you can make a difference in your community? We must strive to continue to communicate with our citizens and to talk to them one on one. We should continue the Citizens Advisory Committee and upgrade it as needed. I have no agenda other than to better Sugarcreek. I have an interest in good and honest government and want to continue to serve my community. I will strive to do my best if reelected. How can local cities and towns work together to improve the entire area, rather than just do what’s best for them? I don't know of any projects currently going on with our neighboring towns to improve the area. Maybe getting together to buy items together to get better pricing would be an area to look at.


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