DEERFIELD TWP. — The Warren County Board of Elections has verified more than enough signatures to put an initiative expanding the Deerfield Township Board of Trustees to a vote of residents in November, Director Bev Moore said Wednesday.

        Townships with limited home rule — additional powers that only 18 townships in Ohio have adopted — may expand their boards from three trustees to five under a year-old state law. Deerfield Township, population 25,515, is the first to consider doing so.

        “I personally believe that a five-person board is a better representation of a community this size,” petition organizer Marcia Sullivan said Wednesday. “That's five people coming in contact with a lot more residents than three people do.”

        Ms. Sullivan and several other residents collected more than 1,000 signatures in 12 days to get the initiative on the fall ballot. Elections staff verified 735 of them before they stopped counting, Ms. Moore said — well more than the 680 required.

        The Board of Elections returned the petitions to township Clerk Kristin Spiekerman on Wednesday for her certification, Ms. Moore said. The clerk must file them with the Board of Elections by 4 p.m. today.

        The Board of Trustees has not taken a formal position on the initiative, but each of the three told the Enquirer Wednesday they oppose it. Bill Morand and Randy Kuvin — both accountants — said the measure would cost the township $50,000 a year in salary and benefits for two additional trustees.

        Also, both said they believe some of those who ran unsuccessfully for trustee in 2001 — such as Zoning Commission Chairman Lee Speidel — are behind the effort.

        “I think we're going through a growth spurt and I think they're reacting to that, and they're reacting to the fact that their people didn't get elected in the last election,” Mr. Morand said.

        Responded Mr. Speidel, who helped collect signatures: “When you're doing development in an area that is one of the hottest development spots in the Midwest, you need more representation. ...

        “I'll be for it whether I'm on the board or not on the board, running for the board or not running for the board.”

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