In the largest field in the county, eight residents squared off Tuesday for two seats on the Hambden Township Board of Trustees.
With all four precincts counted shortly before 9 p.m., Scott Yamamoto and Paul Molan were the winners, earning 576 and 489 votes, respectively, according to unofficial results from Geauga County Board of Elections.
The other candidates and their tallies were: John Bilicic (110), David P. Johnson (406), Frank J. Mihalic (193), Blake A. Rear (265), Mike Romans (347) and Dale H. Smith (96)
Yamamoto, who was appointed in March 2016 to take the seat of former Trustee Nadine Pope, said Tuesday’s victory was a testament to his hard work.
“My hard work must have paid off, it must have been recognized,” he said. “It feels really good that voters have that much confidence in me.”
Yamamoto said residents can rest assure he will continue to do his job and do it correctly.
“I will keep going at it with the intention of making sure that Hambden stays a smooth running operation,” he said.
Yamamoto feels his government background and experience working in an auditor’s office with levies, property values and tax dollars gave him an edge over the field.
“I don’t know how many people actually looked at my resume, but I did put it out there for people to look at,” he said, explaining residents he spoke with appreciated learning about real estate taxes and how taxes are collected.
He added, “Anytime you can educate the taxpayers and tell them how the whole system works it’s a good thing. They come away with a better understanding of how some of these things work and that helped a little bit.”
Since he has taken office, Yamamoto said he has been engaged and has always made himself available.
“I’ve taken calls from residents and taxpayers at quarter to seven in the morning. I return phone calls within a hour and I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty and get out there and work,” he said, explaining he filled in as a snowplow driver in February and March when the township was short a driver.
“I actually enjoyed doing the job and maybe the residents saw that,” added Yamamoto. “I work every trash day unloading residents’ cars, I go to the clambakes at the fire department and I help out with the community picnic. I volunteer at the VFW. I try to be engaged and I think that giving back to the community is important.”
Molan, who has served more than two decades on the township’s Board of Zoning Appeals, said running for trustee was the natural next step up in terms of public service.
“I am very thankful for the residents that voted for me,” he said. “It was a tough race.”
Molan said the township is doing well right now.
“The main thing is, being on the zoning appeals board for 20-plus years and knowing zoning like I do, we need to keep Hambden as a rural community,” he added.
Leading up to the election, Molan said he went door-to-door introducing himself and selling his experience on the BZA.
He also shared his vision of maintaining the township’s infrastructure.
“I have a good background on that already because I have been self-employed in the construction field since 1985,” Molan said. “I know how to work with employees, I know finance, I know road infrastructure, I know snow plowing and salting, I work with other municipalities, am familiar with bid and performance bonds, have worked with subcontractors. I got all that to bring to the table.”
