Article published November 05, 2008
Nutter, Sauber re-elected Seneca County commissioners
Devine unseats Egbert as prosecutor while Alt defeats Bernard in treasurer's contest
By JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
TIFFIN - They've been jeered and cheered for how they've dealt with - or failed to deal with - Seneca County's 1884 courthouse, but incumbent commissioners Dave Sauber and Ben Nutter both kept their jobs yesterday.
Two other incumbents - Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr., and Treasurer Marguerite Bernard - did not fare so well. Both were defeated in their bids for re-election.
In the commissioners' race, voters gave a second four-year term to Mr. Nutter, 41, a Democrat, over Republican Holly Stacy, 44, who is president and chief executive officer of the Sandusky County Chamber of Commerce in Fremont, and independent Terry Love, 43, who is hospitality director at the Ritz Theatre in Tiffin.
"I'm humbled and flattered and very excited to get back to work for the next four years," Mr. Nutter said last night.
Mr. Sauber, 54, a Republican, defeated Democrat Jackie Fletcher, 68, a retired Tiffin school teacher, and Cheryl Huss, 47, who was running as an independent.
"I respect everybody that runs for this office, but I've worked very hard in the last almost four years to try to make a difference and I'm just excited that the voters put me back in," Mr. Sauber said.Both Mr. Nutter and Mr. Sauber supported demolishing and replacing the county's historic courthouse - an issue that has been divisive for several years.
Both were criticized during their re-election bids for not taking care of the issue during their four years in office.
After having solicited demolition bids earlier this year, the commissioners agreed to give a development group until Dec. 10 to come up with a viable plan for transferring ownership of the courthouse to the local port authority.
The port authority, in turn, would renovate the historical structure and lease it back to the county for use as a courthouse again.
"We're going to bring that to resolution as soon as humanly possible," Mr. Nutter said, adding that it "remains to be seen" what will be the best solution.
"If somehow keeping it is going to be a good thing for Seneca County then that's what is going to happen, and if it's not, we'll just have to remove and replace it," he said.
Mrs. Fletcher commended Mr. Sauber for running a positive campaign and said she hoped the commissioners would continue to be open to renovating the courthouse - something she believes could jump-start downtown Tiffin.
"After all that's been said and done, I'm certainly hoping that they would think long and hard before they would throw away all of the opportunities that we have unearthed with the port authority," Mrs. Fletcher said last night.
"They couldn't possibly just turn their backs on that. I'm thinking that is still a really good opportunity for us."
Also, Tiffin attorney Derek Devine defeated Mr. Egbert, a two-term county prosecutor.
Mr. Devine, 40, an independent, had been critical of Mr. Egbert, 44, a Republican, for failing to represent county commissioners in two lawsuits filed after the board decided to demolish the courthouse.
Commissioners paid a Columbus law firm more than $140,000 to represent the county - a job Mr. Devine contended should have been done by the county prosecutor's office.
Ms. Bernard, a Democrat who has been county treasurer for 29 years, also lost her campaign for re-election.
Under scrutiny in recent months for failing to balance the county's main checkbook, Ms. Bernard, 75, was soundly defeated by Republican Damon Alt, a certified public accountant and lawyer from Fostoria, who also works as an assistant city prosecutor in Tiffin.
Mr. Alt, 31, said getting the checkbook balanced would be his top priority.
He said last night the controversy likely played a role in his victory.
"I will try my best to do a good job to benefit the residents of Seneca County," Mr. Alt said.
Meanwhile, county voters approved a 0.8-mill, five-year additional tax levy for the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, which operates mental health and recovery programs in the county.
Contact Jennifer Feehan
at jfeehan@theblade.com
or 419-353-5972.
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