By Rikki Cason<br><a href="mailto:rikki.cason@journal-register.com">E-mail Rikki</a>
As Tuesday approaches, many area voters are making their final decisions on who they want to see in office in either Medina or Albion, and whether or not they should vote “yes” or “no” on Proposition 1 on the Village of Medina ballot.
In Medina, voters will have the final choice on whether or not the village court system should be dissolved. In February, the village board decided to place the proposition on Tuesday’s ballot to give residents the opportunity to decide the court system’s fate.
After researching the village court system, Trustee Mark Irwin reported back to the board with his findings, which revealed that on average, $40,000 would be saved each year by dissolving it into the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby.
Irwin said he thinks one thing that neither the board nor the court personnel disagrees with is that dissolution will save money.
“The ones that work there can see there is a $40,000 a year shortfall,” Irwin said. “That fact can’t be reliably debated. There is no question that dissolving the court would save at least the $40,000.”
Irwin said there is no proof the savings will result in any additional town court cost. This is due to the fact that the towns would receive the village’s court income that would offset any costs that come their way.
According to the village board, over the past seven years the court system has seen a deficit of anywhere from $30,000 to the projected $60,000 for this year.
There was a $40,296 deficit in 2003-04, a $55,005 deficit in 2004-05, a $34,522 deficit in 2005-06, and the $30,040 deficit in 2006-07. There was a $39,136 deficit in 2007-08, $46,647 deficit in 2008-09, and the projected $60,000 deficit for 2009-10.
If passed, the court systems will have until April 4, 2011, before the dissolution will take effect. A time period of 14 months.
“Town courts can be ready to handle new cases on day one,” Irwin said. “If Proposition 1 passes, there will be a 14-month delay between the time of the vote and when village court ends. We get hit with things all the time in our lives and we have a lot less time than 14 months to deal with it.”
Irwin also said that despite recent upgrades to the court facility in the City Hall building, the court is still handicapped-inaccessible, and at some point in the near future costly upgrades will have to be made to make it accessible.
Trustee Andrew Meier said the court system has lost money since 2003 and by voting “yes” for the dissolution, the village will save money. If voted down, the village will have to wait another 4 years to put it back on the ballot. He said that if delayed another four years, the village will loose well over $100,000.
The minutes to the Jan. 25 meeting where Irwin reported his findings on the court system and a complete revenue breakdown from 2003 to 2009 can be found on the village Web site at www.villagemedina.org.
Hoping the proposition will be voted down, the Village of Medina justices, Village Justice Lawrence Sanderson and Acting Village Justice Donald Draper, have been urging voters to consider all the facts.
“Our recommendation is to vote ‘no’ on proposition one,” said Court Clerk Nancy Draper last week.
The justices said the village board has had three years since the same proposition was voted down by the public and they do not feel the board has properly re-examined the matter in that time, only speaking with Sanderson and Police Chief Jose Avila, and looking at the costs.
They said the board wants people to believe the Medina Village Court is somehow “amiss” by not creating revenues that would cover their total operating costs. The truth is that courts — particularly larger courts — routinely do not do so, they said.
Another concern is that of police having to transport paperwork to the courts.
“It was suggested that much of this need could be eliminated by faxing information,” said Nancy Draper. “The truth is that the courts are required by law to have original paperwork with original signatures in order to have lawful jurisdiction.”
In regard to the City Hall not being handicap accessible, they said the Medina court currently has a plan in place to service handicapped persons and the plan is approved by the state. They also have received a $30,000 state grant to do a study on installing an elevator and to make the bathroom handicapped accessible.
The justices urge taxpayers to vote “no,” saying that the village and towns have received a grant of almost $100,000 to study consolidation and sharing resources and that the village court system should be included in that study.
“The prudent course of action is to delay changes until the needed data can be collected and analyzed so that the residents of Medina can make an educated and informed decision,” they said.
On Tuesday, resident will also have the decision to re-elect current mayor Adam Tabelski or vote to elect former mayor Clayton Ehrenreich. Trustee Meier is also up fro re-election, along with Sue Squires, who is seeking her first term on the board.
In Albion, residents will have the opportunity to decide who will fill the position of mayor and two trustee seats on the village board. Incumbent Dean Theodorakos was elected as a trustee in 2007 and appointed by the board as mayor in June 2009, after former mayor Michael Hadick resigned. He is seeking election as mayor and is running against candidate Tracy Jennings.
Also seeking re-election as a trustee is incumbent Kevin Sheehan. Eileen Banker, who joined the board Jan. 6. to fill the open trustee seat from when Theodorakos was appointed mayor, is hoping to continue serving Albion. They are running against James Skaggs and Sandra Walter.
Contact reporter Rikki Cason at 798-1400, ext. 8227.
