Five candidates are running for four seats on Blanchester Village Council. The News Journal asked each candidate these questions:

1 . What is your: name; age; and occupation?

2. Why do you want to be a Village of Blanchester Council member?

3. What goals would you have if elected?

4. How have you been involved with Blanchester in official/unofficial capacities up until now (board member, volunteer, other)?

5. Do you wish to add something to your responses?

Below are candidates’ responses; responses were not received from candidates Gary Bauer and Tyler McCollister. (Editor’s Note: If further responses are received, we will publish them online.)

LORI BYROM

• I am 58 and I am the Administrator at The Laurels of Blanchester and running for my second term on the Blanchester Village Council.

• I have lived and worked in the village for 37 years, I have always loved being a part of this community. There are so many good, hardworking people living here and deserve to live in a place where we can feel safe and be proud of this town, I feel fortunate to serve this community. I have spoken with so many of our citizens who do not feel safe with the amount of officers that we have had to cut down to due to the budget that we are running on. Being a business woman in Blanchester, I want to know that my staff, my residents and the people who live in our village are safe all of the time. I want my grandchildren to grow up in a place that they want to stay and raise their families. There are so many of the younger generation that are leaving the village, I would like for them to see people working together in Blanchester and to be proud of the town.

• I feel my goals are the same as every citizen that lives in Blanchester, to have a strong Police Department so that we feel safe, for that to happen we need a larger force than we have now, nice streets to drive on, we need to clean up the town and hold people accountable for keeping their properties in good shape; there are so many properties here in town that are not being taken care of and we need to hold property owners accountable and we need to be able to run on a budget that has a surplus not a deficit. There are so many misconceptions of the decisions that are made by our council, I would love to see a full house at our meetings, I know that people are busy, but I think if people would attend they would be able to understand that we are working hard to keep a balanced budget and to make the right decisions to move us forward. For Blanchester to grow we have to have something to sell that will attract businesses to our village. I want to see new business come to town, to have places to shop and also more places to dine here in town, so that we do not have to leave Blanchester to do this. So my main goal is Growth not only in our Village, but in the departments that serve our community. I am very proud of Blanchester and would love to be able to continue to serve this community.

• I have served on the Blanchester Chamber of Commerce, Past Rotary Member, Our Nursing Home was recently awarded The Bronze Award from the American Health Association for Quality in Caring, I was Business Woman of the Year, and I belong to the Blanchester Republican Women’s Club.

T. CHAD HOLLON

• 56; Small business owner

• I believe I Have a common sense point of view and I think government needs the common man’s perspective.

• Balancing the budget and helping Blanchester grow, both by population as well as attracting new business to town.

• I have been serving on Blanchester Village Council for about a year.

• I have learned over the past year serving on Council that we have to make the right decision for the Village, no matter how unpopular the decision may be. The people on Village Council are elected/appointed to make good decisions on behalf of the Village. Personal preferences, piques and quarrels should not be part of the decision process.

REILLY HOPKINS

• I am 20 years old. I work part-time at a golf course in customer service and I’m also a full-time student at the University of Cincinnati.

• I want to become a Blanchester council member because I have lived here my entire life, and I believe it’s time for a fresh and optimistic perspective. I believe that with a younger generation taking the reins of leadership, our community would thrive.

• Upon election, I would create a more realistic budget that suits our citizens’ needs. What we want and what we need has been confused, and as a result the financial integrity of our community is in danger. By prioritizing essentials and eliminating costly expenses, my budget plan will allocate vital resources. Furthermore, I strive for transparency; we’re in this together as citizens to better our community.

• I prioritize a vision of Blanchester’s future prosperity, I volunteer at the local elementary school. I believe one of the biggest investments we can make as citizens is to give back to the younger generation.