Business meeting:
We skipped the business meeting due to having a large number of candidates for the City Council candidate forum.
City Council Candidate Forum
Here is the video recording of the candidate forum. Sorry for the poor quality; if you want better, we’ll need to increase the dues. 😉
Candidates in attendance:
Antonia Faisant – Council At Large
Heather Kensinger – Council At Large
Randy Otermat – Council At Large
Brad Wagner – Council At Large
Holly Frische – Ward 1
Michael Gentry – Ward 2
Carol Smith – Ward 3
Patty Klein – Ward 3
Kim Meader – Ward 5
Haydee Sadler – Ward 6
Rodney Phillips – Ward 6
Dan DeLong – Ward 7
Brody Yingling – Ward 7
Antonia – Long time Findlay resident, married to John, 2 kids. Active voter when turned 18, more involved in local in past 20 years. Noticed red flags in city government and decided to be proactive. Took a 12-week constitution class and part of the county Republican party. Involved in this community for 25 years, former church planter, runs a support group for parents of special needs children, presenter for crisis intervention training, parent advocacy training, serving the community for many years so this is a natural transition to advocate for our citizens. She has some knowledge of what it means to own and manage properties.
Heather – strong neighborhoods, safe housing, and a growing community. 7th generation Findlay person, grandfather was a mayor in 50s and 60s. Deep commitment to seeing the city Thrive. State Farm agent – safeguarding what matters to people. What we do now will shape Findlay for generations to come, especially when it comes to housing. It’s a key part of what makes a city successful. We need to create housing for every stage of life. Her daughter is living that right now, getting her first apartment in a renovated building. Landlords like us help people gain independence.
Randy – been in Findlay since 1992, worked at Avis rent a car at Marathon. After retiring in 2021, wanted to get into local politics. He cares about this community and has gotten to know people and the issues that we face. 2 years ago ran for 4th ward city council, got on the Republican sub-committee. Totally committed to helping this community. Policy of maintaining local control and having limited government.
Brad – born in Findlay, wife is Jill Wagner, they love Findlay, including plots at Grove Cemetery. Been in business for 30+ years, 5 years in the Navy. They operate multiple rental properties. This election is about the people of Findlay electing people that trust their council members to make sound decisions about water systems, roads, and first responders. His business experience will be an asset and he’s conservative. Balanced budgets are important. He will attend all meetings and committee assignments.
Holly – incumbent for 1st ward, serving for 9 years. Family came to Findlay in 1984, father was economic development director making sure there are jobs here. Huge supporter of economic development, but there’s a time to have hard conversations when needed. Need to have smart sustainable growth that addresses what the community wants, which is small town community charm. Not a politician, no intention of getting involved until the Republican party reached out to her. She reaches out to the citizens and talk with people to figure out what’s going on and what problems she can help solve. Council is the checks and balances of the administration, so tough conversations are necessary. 90% of the time she votes yes, 10% she stands up for what’s right.
Michael – From Texas, came here thru Marathon in 1978, moved around the country then retired here in 2001. Findlay is top notch. He’s a person we can hold accountable, is fair, is reasonable, and really looks into things and studies the issues. He would like to have Findlay return back to being a welcoming town that we can be engaged in. Has been an interim president of a small Bible college and helped two small colleges merge to a joint venture. On the board of directors for that college in Houston, TX, on the trustees for Hancock Wood propane, treasurer and worship leader of church, wants to serve Findlay.
Carol – moved to Findlay in 2001, 3 kids in Findlay City Schools, decided to run because cares about future. Director of First Pres nursery school. Future generations are important to support our community. Needed to stop praying and take action.
Patty – Talking face to face with people is important to know a candidate better. Married with 2 adult children who went thru FCS, learned hard work thru FFE and Shockwave. Before kids was a police and fire dispatcher for 911 for about 10 years, left that to start a family. She strongly supports public safety and realizes they need full staffing and cutting edge tools. Started a small business of mommy and me music. Has attended almost every council meeting because she’s concerned about the gap between council and the public. She’s been trying to bring the public more into council by informing them of what’s going on. She’s invested in working to improve public knowledge of spending.
Kim – Married for 45 years, retired from Kohls DC, 1 daughter, and 1 grandson. Guarantee that she will give 100% to community and the 5th ward. She was able to get the oil ridge project cleaned up at no expense to the taxpayers. She works with a block watch committee. She got water lines approved for West Park and stopped a Habitat build for now. She would like to work with other projects in the community. There is a tree program for areas with new build. She is a 30-year member of Countryside church, active in the Christmas tree family program, plays dart ball, first elected female president of dart ball, VP of West Park, secretary of the Moose. Work experience in purchasing and logistics – anything can be negotiated, and any story has 2 views.
Haydee – wife of 30 years, mother of 2, homeschool on occasion, somewhat of a homesteader, somewhat of an extremist. Ran for mayor in 2023, running for 6th ward now. Committed to standing by the city’s mission – enduring stewardship, keep the city fiscally and financially responsible with your taxpayer dollars, committed to safety of citizens including listening to constituents. Involving people in the city’s business with regular communication because it is the people’s business. Encourage organic growth in our community. Lots of experience with city council, and there are many changes that need to be made. Have contacted DHS to report undocumented immigrants in the county jail, continued to request radiation tests due to the smart city infrastructure that affects the whole community’s health. Circulating a referendum petition about cannabis zoning; is a dispensary even good for our community?
Rodney – Realist, former marine, retired Findlay fire captain, lead firearm instructor at Buffalo Trading Community. Lived in 6th ward entire adult life. Relationship between tenant and landlord is a cool one; rented his first place after the service. Would like to foster a relationship with FAAA because it’s an important one. Being landlords is a public service. They city tries to reach into this industry that’s already well-regulated. Affordable housing is already an issue in this town. Huge advocate for property owner rights.
Danny – Van Buren guy, Findlay was the thrilling big city to him growing up. Went to BGSU tried to get a teaching job but ended up in retail. Married a Findlay girl 54 years ago. Worked for Sears and Home Depot including operating aspects of those businesses. Has the business smarts to be able to understand the business of the city, budgets, etc. Got involved in the commissioners in 2019 about the Howard Run ditch project. Attended many council and committee meetings and spoke to council many times about things he doesn’t agree with, trying to work from the inside.
Brody – LB graduate. 3 principles: responsible leadership not just being the loudest, results over rhetoric not just talking about things, making sure that we’re investing in our future in Findlay. We have all decided to call Findlay home. Had opportunities to move to other states, but he believes in Findlay and that’s why he’s running. Spent 13 years in the service industry, 4 years in HR and management and knows the struggles of hiring, 8 years on the board of Millstream credit union. What is worth spending money on and what is not worth it? Taught business classes at FHS for the last year. Unique background he brings to council.
Q&A
Q: School levy is a hot topic – are you in favor or not in favor.
In favor: Heather, Brad, Michael, Carol, Rodney, Brody.
Haydee: We’re not running for school board. Voters said no in Nov, FCS said they’ll keep trying. City Council won’t get voted in until January.
Patty: Unfair to say yes or no, everyone wants strong schools. Didn’t support the levy last time, she works at the schools and saw the change from academics to culture-oriented things. FCS is still working on the culture and not the academics. When they put out kids who are strong in science & math and Millstream is a good example, then she’ll support it, but not until the cultural issues are removed.
Rodney: FCS does what all schools do – they made permanent cuts that aren’t coming back. We don’t go forward with a failing school. You can’t work on anything with less, all you can do is less. Support the school.
Heather: Do support it because our schools have done a good job with what we’ve given them. Actual numbers show the administration has been responsible. Millstream got 5 stars, schools got 4.5. Students should not be punished for what administration did. Have students in the schools but would still support it even if she didn’t. The whole community should support the schools because that’s what draws families.
Holly: This topic is not a decision maker for city council candidates. Council supports the community, smart and financially responsible. Findlay has a 1% income tax to operate. This is a tool for economic development. The people voted on the school income tax and said no. A respectful thing is that FCS should recognize that and ask for less then work to prove to the people that they are doing what’s best for the students in the school. Not going to tell how she’ll vote, but her perspective is that FCS is not listening to the citizens.
Brody: This is not a city council issue, that’s not our job. Took a pay cut to teach and loves what he does. He would forfeit his job to save this community. Findlay needs higher paying jobs like skilled trades. If you shoot this levy in the foot and handicap our schools, that will affect the future down the road. If you are running again after not getting elected, why are you running again? That logic of something voted down should kill it doesn’t make sense.
Antonia: Accountability, details, and context matter. A yes/no answer is not fair since this is multi-faceted. For educating current and future generations but also schools being fiscally responsible. Parents should be active in children’s education. Husband is a teacher so she appreciates that. She is for education not social and cultural issues. Don’t hem her in on a yes/no response.
Danny: People have asked him this question. It’s up to the citizens to decide; this is not the school board. The mayor said the city is for it, but she was speaking for herself. Unfair to ask to stand for it, may not have made up their minds yet. Will decide when he votes.
Michael: This issue will come up again. There has to be accountability for the administration at FCS. They may need to try again and again until they get it right. He wants to see the schools improve. Surely they can find an answer that doesn’t tax us to the extreme.
Kim: Personally think the school board should drop the percentage after the last one. There’s too much coming out of people’s paychecks already. Should cut it to ¼-½ percent. They say they won’t charge retirees, but she expects they’ll change that. She has caught them in too many lies, including an issue with FFE.
Carol: FFE thing – been involved for 5 years. The investigation was brutal, but she believes in the future. It ripped their hearts out to go through that and to lose Kevin. There is a culture problem but not just with FFE, it’s across the board. To fix these things, we need to invest.
Rodney: This is a business issue. FCS is the 5th largest employer in the city. This would cut high paying jobs, so these people will likely move away. Sometimes it does just come down to the numbers on the page. 1% buys the school 3 pay cycles ($6M). That’s all, it’s simple math.
Antonia: Graduated from FHS with 600 students. See how many added administrative jobs there are since then. Has worked for FCS as a lunch monitor and volunteered to help teachers, on PTO at BVC, and blesses people with food. She cares about the teachers. Been a high advocate for her daughter at FCS. Be more active and involved, that matters.
Q: What about the immigration issue? We see lots of people coming to Findlay, which impacts our housing situation. What can we expect from you? Are we growing by immigration?
Holly: All of this comes back to economic development. We do have a new population is because economic development has been brining low paying jobs to our community that we cannot fill so we have to find workers some other way. We’re not necessarily going about that the right way. We want high paying jobs and a stable housing market; we want a good mix, to bring people to our community. We need to look at public safety and we don’t have the numbers for that. People feel unsafe, city council will do that fiscally responsibly.
Haydee: Ran for mayor because she was on Strategic Planning Committee. Saw many concerns about illegal immigrants. People aren’t asking in a hateful way, just curious. Rather than highlighting concerns of citizens, the city would talk about trails, parks, etc. The city seems to ignore the citizens. Is the city spending tax dollars for these immigrants? She thinks they may be. Thankfully Trump is stopping this. Jails are up from 5 to 19 illegal immigrants in just a couple years even though reports say otherwise.
Patty: If people were using a program that was legal, that’s fine. What needs to stop is using these immigrants as our low paid employees. Ty Mathews has an initiative to bring high paying jobs (military contracts) to our city and NW Ohio. When we get a better balance with high paying jobs in the tech industry, that will be a better balance.
Q: What’s your definition of a high-paying job?
$12-14/hr is not, $50k+ is. People need to be able to sell their houses, expand and build homes, etc.
Rodney: Immigration is a federal issue. Various groups are losing their TPS right now. That means the ATM will no longer work for them. Many of them work, some of them don’t. We should prepare for that as a community. We don’t know what the possibilities are. There is a worker shortage so we should work on making sure we fill that. Cities don’t necessarily need to grow to thrive.
Heather: Daughter works for the hospital and makes less than what many factory workers get paid. The lowest paying job in Paul Cramer’s business is $18.25/hr. That’s $2 more than a hospital worker. We have jobs that aren’t paying enough for people to live, but our community is amazing that we have places that are affordable for people to live. How can we partner with the city to make sure they have places to live when they’re doing the jobs that need done?
Antonia: We had a massive influx of immigrants who vary in status. She has issues at work when they have to use translators. They need to be acclimated to our way of life. We are schedule oriented and they are not. This acclimation is a big issue that we need to work on, like the process for international students at UF. Housing is a big issue as they’re being stuffed in hotels.
Brad: There is no one here representing the economic development group. We need to have some of the players in that group present. If you vote for him, we as landlords will have a say in what’s going on. Really can’t poke holes in what anybody else is saying.
Antonia: Part of Findlay First Council, asked the mayor about the amount of people coming in. Up to 2000 immigrants.
Q: Ohio has talked about rent control. Are you in favor of government rent control?
If yes stand up – nobody stood.
Patty: I respect your businesses and there should not be government interference. There should not be more regulation in your small businesses.
Brody: If there’s any kind of government focus, it should be on increasing development of housing that’s already there. We’re at 99% capacity for housing in Findlay, which is no wiggle room.
Q: How do you know that it’s 99% full?
A: There’s an Ohio News article.
Q: I think those numbers are false and there are actually a lot of vacancies.
A: There’s an opportunity for all of you as landlords to address this challenge. Findlay needs 150 more houses under $200k by 2028 to address this issue. It’s a challenge for my peers to find something within their budget.
Haydee: FAAA has had a lot of issues with the city. If elected, she will look at ordinances that specifically affect this group of people. Many issues affect landlords directly. She will definitely be looking at all of those and look out for FAAA.
Danny: The government tried many decades ago to try and control rental properties, and they shouldn’t get involved in that way. It’s like them telling McDonald’s how to set the price of their cheeseburgers. He is definitely not for it. This is a free enterprise system.
Randy: 100% against rent control. Cities have tried it, and it actually makes rents higher. City Council tried to create a registry for landlords. The problem is that everyone seems to be against landlords and for the tenants, but that’s not the way it should work. City government should have as little control as possible over your industry, it’s your job to police it. You deal with a lot of problems with renters who are not accountable and responsible.
Brad: This is a discussion we should have, feel free to call him – 419-348-6151. He is completely against all government intervention in this business.
Holly: We need to have basic zoning for a nice community, but we don’t need zoning codes that are able to be weaponized. She is not for land banking; that’s not the business of the city. The city is not in the business of doing development. All developers should find an area to work on. Our community is not in need of low income housing, we need a balanced community of varying levels of rentals.
Q: One recommendation from a landlord perspective – when a tenant signs up for AEP or Columbia Gas and doesn’t pay, they are responsible. But when they don’t pay a water bill, that comes back on the landlord. The tenant should be accountable for what they don’t pay when it’s in their name.
Holly: I think you’re spot on for that. She will look into that to see what exists in other communities for this. This is a great request that city council can address.
Antonia: For more freedom and less red tape. The state wants to tack on days for the 3-day notice. That’s tough enough without extending that.
Haydee: The justice 40 initiative is taking 40% of FEMA dollars to put towards asylum seekers, migrants, etc. to provide housing, healthcare, and education. This is from FEMA grants. Any grants that we get need to be coming to Findlay for the flood areas specifically, not for low income housing for illegal immigrants.
Q: A lot of your campaigns promise to be the voice of the people. Holly is the only one who really is the voice of the people right now. She’ll go live on Facebook to stay in communication. City Council was supposed to have town halls, they didn’t. My councilman doesn’t take my calls. Will you really be the voice of the people that you are elected to represent? Thank you for doing that, Holly! Stay in contact with the people!
Randy: Yes, I will be the voice of the people. He is committing to this full-time. You’ll have his email, Facebook, address, and personal cell phone. He loves sitting on his porch, stop by and chat! I will listen to what you have to say. People keep showing up against things and Council rams it through anyway.
Antonia: Daughter has multiple complex needs the day she was born, so she became an advocate for her and for other parents with special needs kids for 16 years. Not paid for that, it’s her passion. She is driven by helping people, that’s part of who she is. Even if I’m not your council person, she will remain active in the community and continue with the work.
Danny: Ad hoc committee on public comments happened in the past. Council had 4 committee meetings for citizens to be able to speak, yet they did not allow that to happen. What you didn’t see on YouTube was that they had police officers to make sure people didn’t speak. Council meetings are on YouTube but they don’t allow comments on that platform – the mayor said that would be too much hassle. She did put it on her Facebook, but only once and then it was taken off. Current council does not listen.
Rodney: You should decide, not me. Marijuana dispensaries had a year, but would 6th ward voters have said that if they knew where it was going to go? Get more voter initiatives on the ballot. Government needs to move on the will of the people. 7-2 or 6-3 is not representative; the voters should get the say. He is just the conduit and the messenger.
Brody: Face to face conversation is something we lack. We have a lot of arguments behind screens. They likely won’t agree on everything, but they can have civil conversations. He has had to break up fights, he can handle passionate discourse. Approach him and reach out even if you’re not in his ward. Have conversation and learn from one another. He will be approachable and communicate.
Haydee: Circulating a referendum to bring the dispensary issue to the people for a vote. Just because it’s legal in the state doesn’t mean we want that here. There was a 12-month moratorium on it to figure it out, but nobody asked the people. The city passed it anyway even though many people showed up to fight it. It should be on the ballot for residents to decide.
Patty: She wants you to be your own voice on city council. When she started attending, she did so because she wants the people to be heard. She has seen council pass things based on just a couple of emails. Whether you agree or not, show up and speak your voice and let council know what you think.
Michael: Thank you Holly for the splendid job you do after meetings! We should all do something similar. We are going to be your voice, and that’s the way it should be. You should hold us accountable.
Heather: Teenage daughter disagreed with the school board and was vocal about what happened. She didn’t get a response but kept pushing. They now have a student-led organization to make their voices heard to the school board. She sits at Baker’s Café to have coffee with whoever comes in to talk about whatever is going on. She’s available and is listening.
Kim: She does promise to be the voice of the 5th ward. She has fought numerous times for what her neighborhood wants. She has been a voice for the people and will continue to do so. She will give 100%. She’s retired so she has nothing else to do but work for the ward.
Antonia: She was active in running petitions with FAAA. She believes in being active and getting involved.
Carol: Leadership starts with listening. She works with 4- and 5-year-olds. If you reach out to her, she will answer as quickly as possible.