Candidate says tax debt not an issue in council race

A candidate for Trotwood City Council said the fact that he owed more than $35,000 in delinquent property taxes on a Jefferson Township house he owns should not be an issue in the November election.

Robert Kelley Jr. said he bought the house at 4654 Belcourt Drive for his daughter and has never lived in it.

“She had trouble holding onto it because she got laid-off from her job,” he said.

He added that he would never have bought the house except for the fact that it was for a loved one.

Eventually, Kelley could not afford the property too. He has tried to sell the property to no avail.

He said Friday that he is working with legal counsel to clear up the situation.

The office of Montgomery County Treasurer Carolyn Rice filed complaint for foreclosure of delinquent real estate taxes against Kelley, his wife Hope and the Stewardship Fund LLC in Texas in April in Common Pleas Court.

The courts ordered that the property be foreclosed and that an order of sale be issued to the county Sheriff’s Office.

Kelley, a licensed social worker and retired director for the Dayton Chapter of The American Red Cross Family Living Center /Emergency Housing Program, is one of five people seeking to fill two at-large council seats currently held by Barbara Staggs and Bruce Kettelle.

“If the public does not want to vote for me, so be it. I cannot change anything now,” Kelley said. “Things happen sometime beyond your control … Am I going to back out of the race? No. People have to judge for themselves.”

Kelley added, “I’m just as responsible, if not more than some of the people I’m running against.”

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