Candidates seek fiscal efficiency at Bellevue candidates’ night
Mayoral candidate Donald Berkey proposed a state efficiency study and a wellness plan. Judicial candidates agreed the municipal court must cut costs.
Bellevue mayoral candidate Donald R. Berkey told 40 to 50 people at the Bellevue Society for the Arts that, if elected, his first step would be to ask the new council for an efficiency study of city operations. Berkey, the city treasurer, said he had already talked with Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost about a state review of city finances.
His second priority would be a wellness plan for city employees. He pointed to Huron, which he said saved $1.6 million over six years on insurance that way, and said savings in Bellevue could go to streets.
Berkey’s opponent, businessman Carl J. Mira, did not attend the event, sponsored by the Bellevue Kiwanis, the BSA and the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. About 15 candidates for other city offices did. Three of the four candidates for Bellevue Municipal Court judge spoke, and they generally agreed the court needed to change in 2012 to be more financially sound.
Performance audits are run by the Ohio Auditor of State. See the candidates’ answers, Dave Yost’s later record and the 2012 swearing-in. More in Local News.