ELIDA — The village of Elida will have a new mayor in 2020.
Village councilor Claude Paxton defeated longtime former councilor Mayor Kim Hardy, claiming 57% of votes cast.
Paxton, now is in his sixth elected year on the village council, decided to challenge Hardy to give council more control over village hiring and employee salaries.
“I try to stay positive, and I’m not going to say anything negative about my opponent. I just believe council needs to be more involved in the areas of policy and financing and staffing than it currently is,” Paxton told The Lima News ahead of Tuesday’s election. “Government should run as a cooperative effort. There have been some issues where the mayor has pushed us to do things we weren’t willing to do.”
Hardy, a longtime former village councilor himself, is completing his sixth year as mayor. He was first appointed to the position after the death of Ron Klopfenstein, and oversaw improvements to the village’s wastewater plant as well as construction of a new town hall and improvements to state Route 309 while in office.
“The people have chosen Mr. Paxton to be the new mayor,” Hardy told The Lima News on Tuesday. “I’ll call and congratulate him and let him know I’ll do all I can do to make his transition into that position as easy as possible.”
Elida resident Pamela Glass, who voted for Paxton, described the future mayor as a “trusting person.”
“He lived across from my mother, and he was very helpful with her,” Glass said. “I think he’ll be good for the village of Elida.”
The only issue Glass worries about in Elida is the speed limit outside the schools, which she said is often disregarded.
“There’s a lot of kids up and down these streets,” she said. “That’s what worries me there. I wish they’d do something about that.”
Shawnee Township will see a new trustee when Russell Holly returns to his old position.
Holly, who ousted Chris Seddelmeyer as Shawnee Township trustee in Tuesday’s race, is returning for his sixth term after narrowly losing his reelection in 2017.
Allen County voters overwhelmingly approved another levy renewal for Allen County Children Services, which funds operating expenses like direct services for families and children as well as child placement costs in Allen County.
“The community has supported us with this levy over three decades,” said Cyndi Scanland, Allen County Children’s Services executive director. “I think on behalf on children and families in Allen County, I would like to thank them for their support to keep kids safe and keep families together by overwhelmingly passing our renewal levy. Every vote helps.”
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