Kevin checks in and runs point on this episode of our continuing election coverage. We welcome Pam Sayre - incumbent candidate for Brown Township Trustee to talk about this year’s issues and cycle.
Kevin talks briefly about Pam’s history in office. A Trustee for Brown Township since 1988(!) Pam has seen a great deal of transformation to the traditional five acre lots and farm families she first came to know. Initially drawn into office with a front door challenge to her own home, her views on the responsibilities of the trustee position have grown to encompass updates to Brown’s Comprehensive Planning documents to take into account Hilliard’s recent updates and sharing information so that future plans might work better and more closely together.
Quickly mentioned is the necessity of conserving and preserving the Big Darby by protecting its essential nature and boundaries.
Tim asks Pam to describe the evolution of the comprehensive planning process over the arc of her career since she has been through this cycle more than once. What has history shown her to be the critical points you need to get right? Pam describes the 2005 plan and specifically the matter of creating options for limited home building and development in unincorporated areas without the need for service tie-ins.
Kevin asks Pam to describe the inception of the Big Darby Accord - the original agreement between ten municipalities and townships to create a shared stewardship interest to protect and develop the Darby area. While the agreement and participants have shifted over the years development interest has been limited and partners have remained committed to its protection.
Pam then gets into how mechanisms for trail development in the township differ from that of a more densely populated area like Hilliard and how highway speed traffic plays a considerable role in any choice made around this type of development. Once a few more options have been sorted out MORPC and Central Ohio Greenways will be consulted on the path to funding and construction.
Pam also describes the nature of the contract between Brown Township and Norwich Township Fire Services. Kevin follows up by asking for some more detail about the various sticking points that have pushed negotiations for this new contract through ten revisions and a series of counter offers.
Tim asks for some more detail across the breadth of Pam’s career looking for significant positives or negatives that have emerged over time in the township. Pam responds that the full completion of Prairie Oaks Metro Park was - in her experience - an almost universal success that now protects 2200 acres, four lakes, and a significant network of hiking trails.
https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/prairie-oaks/
Kevin and Pam describe the evolution of the township’s business and how some of her predecessors laid the groundwork for the developing provision of Fire Service throughout the area with the construction of Station 82.
Pam describes her desire - if elected - to continue to build relationships and trust with the city of Hilliard and how both entities can move forward together. Tim asks how those two different models of governance can mesh together effectively and if there are some good examples of this synthesis. Pam talks more about the ongoing collaborative efforts at building trust with this new administration.
Pam goes on to talk about the nature of conservation and preservation that drives certain areas of thinking and governance at the township level and how it is distinct in the nature of its concerns from city governance which has its own necessary criteria and focal points. Listening to and responding to residents and their interests can be considered a chief responsibility in any area.
Kevin asks Pam about her motivation level going into term number nine. Pam says that in the past it has regularly come down to the wire as to whether or not she will seek re-election but that something interesting usually comes up to draw her in again. This time around it’s the comprehensive planning elements, new potential for collaboration, and the need to see the Fire and Emergency Services contract continue to provide good service to her constituents.
Pam lets us in on her forty year membership in a social book club and the fun and friendship involved in being part of that kind of relationship with others. She’s also kept on the move with babysitting responsibilities for grandbaby number four.
Finally, Tim asks Pam to sum up what thirty-five years of experience and learning in office has meant to her and she gives it her very best effort!
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