The one candidate is Roger Gallo, who has served on council since 1994 and was council president until he automatically became mayor last year following the resignation of Mayor Joe Morenz.

His opponent is Councilman Peter Wilson, who was elected in 2017 and has two years remaining in his first term. Gallo is running as a Republican and Wilson as an independent, although he previously voted Democrat in the 2018 primary election.

Gallo, 63, is a life-long resident and served on council from 1994-2018 before becoming mayor. He recently retired after 40 years working as an electrical repairman at the FirstEnergy complex in Shippingport, Pa. He and his wife have three children and five grandchildren.

Wilson, 65, is a retired journalist with more than 30 years working for newspapers, magazines and news agencies, including Bloomberg News, where he also held several management positions. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and English from Walsh College and a graduate degree from the University of London.

WILSON

Wilson said he lived in Lisbon until he was 3 before his parents – Wilbert Wilson and Helen Opincar Wilson –moved to Salem for his father’s job. They eventually settled in North Canton, where he grew up. He moved back to Lisbon in 2016 after retiring.

“I am running for mayor because I believe Lisbon deserves more than just the same old solutions. I am not suggesting I have all the answers. What I do have is a fresh perspective … I am not only open to new ideas, but I encourage them and I embrace them,” he said.

Gallo believes the village is moving in a positive direction and officials are open to trying new things. “As a small community we’re trying to provide the best services to our residents with the budget we have,” he said.

This year the village repaved Beaver and Jefferson streets with blacktop, which is the first time in years any secondary streets have been blacktopped. Gallo said they are addressing storm runoff problems in the Garfield Street area and he is working on trying to get funding to put in sidewalks along Dickey Drive.

He also supports continuing to subsidize the community pool using general fund dollars. “Our residents value that and we’re tying to keep it going,” Gallo said.

As an example of his penchant for wanting to take a fresh approach, Wilson cited his support for trying of bring curbside recycling to Lisbon, which would have resulted in a single garbage hauler servicing all households. He believes it would ultimately save residents money, but the proposal never made it out of committee.

Gallo, who was not on council at the time, said they looked into curbside recycling before and they did not think it was feasible then, and it is probably less so now because recyclers are cutting back on the materials they are accepting.

Wilson also proposed creating a rental property inspection/landlord registration program in the wake of major 2018 apartment house fire, but what ended up being passed by council was a scaled-back version that allows the fire department to perform safety inspections but only if requested by the tenant or landlord.

“It’s a tiny step forward,” he said.

Wilson also favored replacing the village income tax office with an outside government agency – the Regional Income Tax Agency — which would save the village an estimated $17,000 per year. The idea was voted down because council felt residents wanted the convenience of being able to stop at village hall and meet with the tax administrator.

Gallo was already mayor by then and did not participate in the council vote, but he is not opposed to taking a second look at switching to RITA.

Wilson said he was always in favor of saving money, which is why he prefers two quotes be obtained for any significant expenditures. He noted his insistence on getting a second quote for recent electrical work saved the village $2,000.

He also encouraged the village to look into refinancing the loan used to pay for construction of the new village hall, and that also saved the village money by lowering its loan payments.

Gallo and Wilson have supported hiring Town Center Associates to assist council in coming up with a downtown revitalization plan, which was Morenz’s chief initiative while in office. The plan included a passage of legislation requiring business property owners perform basic maintenance and they make some effort to find tenants for their vacant storefronts.

“We have some (property owners) willing to take a leap of faith … They’ve invested in their buildings, and to that end I think they deserve our support,” Gallo said.

Wilson, who is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, is big proponent of promoting the downtown. He believes the new building maintenance and rental laws council adopted have contributed to a mini-boom currently underway.

“We’re seeing the results already. We could see seven new businesses in Lisbon this year,” Wilson said. “I see Lisbon’s potential and I want to be proactive.”

Wilson’s chief concern with the downtown revitalization plan was over how long it was taking to draft the legislation and then implement the new laws. He frequently quizzed Morenz on the matter and expressed his displeasure with the delays. Morenz, who stepped down in July 2018 because of his high blood pressure, cited as a contributing factor Wilson’s habit of repeatedly bringing up these issues and others at council meetings. He felt many of these questions could have been answered with him beforehand.

Wilson does not apologize for his approach of asking questions at meetings and asking about the status of things other officials are supposed to be working on. “If someone says they are going to do something and they don’t do it, I have the right to ask them,” he said.

Gallo said while he too was not pleased with the delay in enactment of these laws, it was not necessarily Morenz’s fault. “There were concerns raised by the (village) solicitor and that slowed things down. We lost a lot of time as a result,” he said.

Wilson also favored a more aggressive approach in enforcing the new business building maintenance laws, and this extends to existing laws governing the maintenance of residential properties.

“I promise to fight to maintain our property values by enforcing ordinances on trash, garbage and vermin. We cannot attract businesses and new residents if we don’t put our best face forward,” he said.

Gallo supports giving business property owners every chance to comply with the new laws.

“We really don’t want to have to fine anyone if we don’t have to. We just want the places fixed up and available for rent. The intent is to get them to do something with the property, and to some extent it has been working. But we’re going to turn the heat up legally if we have to,” he said.

Gallo pointed out he was on council in the early 2000s when they voted to overhaul the town square, and while on council they built a new water plant and joined with the county in building a joint sewage plant. In recent years the village has undertaken several stormwater/sewer separation projects under orders by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

He was also on council when they voted to annex into town the section of state Route 154 that resulted in development of the Days Inn and Shale Tavern.

Gallo said he is currently working with the village zoning inspector as part of the village’s efforts to revamp the zoning code “to make it user friendly and easier to enforce.”

As mayor, Gallo said he is also working with the street foreman to make sure there will be no problems this time with the manholes on Lincoln Way after the thoroughfare is repaved by the state. “There should be no rocking manholes this time,” he said.

Speaking of annexation, Gallo noted he voted against repeal of the law requiring annexation in exchange for obtaining village water or sewer service. He called his vote in favor of retaining the annexation requirement a “no-brainer,” especially in light of all of the new development that has occurred north of town in Center Township.

Wilson believes the village needs to take a more proactive approach in seeking grants to help various projects and pledged to do that as mayor. He was able to secure a grant from the National Realtors Association to develop a pocket park on South Market Street and is looking for other grant funding for the Willow Grove Bridge project begun by the former mayor, which he has adopted since Morenz’s resignation.

Both candidates favor doing more to promote what Lisbon has to offer in the form of tourism, such as the historic downtown and Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail, which begins in town and draws an estimated 200,000 bicyclists to the county annually.

Wilson said he will keep daily office hours at village hall. While Gallo does not have set hours, he said he is in the office most mornings and returns all calls. Gallo said he can also be reached at home. “I’m always available,” he said.

Both support the proposed increase in the village income tax so the pay of police officers can be increased to stop the loss of officers to other departments. Wilson’s only objection is he would prefer the police chief present them now with a general plan estimating how much everything would cost.

Gallo said he is fine waiting for the chief and village fiscal officer to crunch the numbers should the tax increase pass. “Everyone understands the intent of this is to retain our police officers,” he said.