On the ballot for Antwerp Village Council, there are nine residents of Antwerp. On the council sit six people, 5 of which are currently filled. Four seats are up for reelection this November. Five of the people running are new to the political race – Jason Franks, Steve Jordan, Larry Smith, Sara Keeran, and Bryce Steiner. Four are incumbents – Keith West, Dean Rister, Rudie Reeb, and Mike Rohrs. With so many new faces having the potential to be leading the village of Antwerp after November 2nd, the Antwerp Chamber of Commerce decided to organize a last minute Meet the Candidates Night on October 26, 2021.
Three candidates were gracious enough to share their time and their thoughts with the village residents who participated in this evening. The event took place at the Antwerp Local School with several village residents in attendance. Paulding County Sheriff, Jason Landers stood in as moderator for the evening. Keith West, Jason Franks, and Bryce Steiner took the stage just before 7:00 p.m. to begin the event. Sheriff Landers invited each candidate to make their introductions to the crowd.
Bryce Steiner is a new candidate for one of the seats on the Village Council. He has lived in Antwerp for over 16 years when he started the business, West Bend Printing & Publishing, Inc. with his wife, Angel.
Jason Franks is a new candidate for one of the seats on the Village Council. He has served on the zoning board of appeals for 15 years. He is married to wife, Tiffany, and they share three children.
Keith West is a current council member seeking re-election. He has served two terms, total of eight years and is seeking his third term this November. He and his wife have lived in Antwerp for many years, and they now have 21 grandchildren.
Antwerp Chamber of Commerce compiled a list of seven questions for the candidates to answer and explain to the crowd. Sheriff Landers gave each candidate the opportunity to answer in a two minute time limit to keep the meeting moving along.
Question 1: What made you want to run for Village Council, and what qualities, skills, and interests will you bring to the council?
Bryce Steiner – He wants to see transparency in the council members with the public about all situations. He wants to get rid of the unnecessary emergency ordinance passing. He would also like to see residents have more opportunities to be resourceful – have chickens, rabbits, or do composting. He also wants to have open communication with the public.
Jason Franks– He would like to see new energy in the council, and he believes he can do that. He believes the situation with the Family Dollar was mishandled at best and wants to avoid situations like that moving forward. He believes his engineering background with problem-solving and trouble-shooting will be an asset to the village council.
Keith West – He is currently helping solve some of the issues that the village has been battling, and he has several residents approach him wanting him to run for council to continue his efforts.
Question 2: What ideas do you have to promote local businesses and attract more people to our community?
There were three very different answers to this question – Franks thinks we should start with the revitalization of the downtown area by working with Paulding County Economic Development and the Village Administrator; Steiner wants to help potential entrepreneurs get their ideas from Point A to Point B and turn them into thriving business ventures; and West thinks it’s most beneficial to promote the 24/49 Interchange development. The planning stages are getting ready to move to the next phase.
Question 3: What quality of life challenges and/or opportunities do you see in our community?
Health and safety was most important to West, while Franks believes improving the village’s water system is most important, and Steiner spoke about fairness to all in terms of enforcing village ordinances on residents.
Question 4: What is your vision for the 24/49 Interchange?
Steiner believes this Interchange needs to be beneficial to the village and agrees with West that it needs to be supported with the best infrastructure and get experts to work with the village to get this done right. Franks stated that he thinks that PCED has the best insight for this project, but also thinks that the village should look at other towns – like Hicksville’s industrial park – to see what would work for Antwerp. West stated that several things need to get accomplished first – the village needs to be able to get water to that interchange in order for the rest of the project to fall into place. Investors need to see that the village is serious about it, and then the project can move forward.
Question 5: If elected, our village will rely on you to make important, informed, and fair decisions that affect our residents as well as our businesses. How do you intend to make sure the best decisions are made in the interest of our entire community?
West stated that it is imperative that all members of council need to participate as part of the group not individually. Steiner stated that the main reason he ran is to see the end of the abusive use of emergency ordinances. They give little, to no, public comment when issues are brought up – the zoning for example, Steiner stated that there is a zoning hearing coming up that will discuss moving zones of certain sections of the village. The people living in this areas need to know about this. Franks wants to work with the council members to use Social Media and the village website to keep everyone informed.
Question 6: How can the council be more transparent with the residents of Antwerp?
Franks reiterated the need for all meetings to be recorded and put on the village website and social media. This will ensure transparency in their decision making. West is 100% for transparency; in fact, the council is currently working with a company to build a new website that should be operational by January 2022. Steiner believes transparency is absolutely crucial to be successful with the public. Council cannot be afraid when a resident asks them a question that may be hard to answer.
Question 7 was the final question of the evening: What are your thoughts or plans for increasing housing in the village of Antwerp?
Steiner stated that the first thing that needs looked at is the current zoning & village limits. Maybe it’s time to expand those borders for more room to grow. Franks agreed with this thought and added that there is not much potential for future growth except some upstairs of downtown buildings and a couple other areas. West also concurred with the other two candidates about lack of current space for housing expansion in the village, and it may be time to look at expanding.
The evening was brought to a close by moderator Sheriff Landers thanking the Chamber for coordinating the event as well as the Antwerp School for allowing access to the building.
Now, it’s up to the residents of Antwerp to speak with their votes. These three candidates all shared what they were willing to do for the village of Antwerp, and it’s up to the residents to decide who will lead them for the next four years. Get out and vote next Tuesday, November 2nd!
