Three seeking Clayton Council seat


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Ray Slone Jr., Clayton City Councilman

Age: 51

Family: Married to wife Rhonda Slone and has one adult child.

Occupation: TV Host & Producer of Cruise'n with E-Rider on TV

Education: Graduated from Dunbar High School. Took some courses at Wright State University before taking a computer programming course at Rets Tech.

Years on council: 4

Monthly Stipend: $400

Political Party Affiliation: A Dayton Daily News background check revealed that Slone affiliated himself with the Republican Party last year.

Elaine M. Herrick, candidate for Clayton City Council, did not return phone calls placed by this newspaper, seeking an interview. This newspaper's background check revealed the following:

Age: 66

Political Party Affiliation: Republican

Mike Stevens, candidate for Clayton City Council

Age:56

Family:Married to wife Diane and has two adult daughters and one adult son.

Occupation:Real Estate Agent and Retired Circulation Manager for Cox Media Group

Education: Graduated from Northmont High School. Received an associate degree in Marketing Management from Sinclair Community College, a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and an MBA in Marketing at Wright State University.

Memberships/Community Activity: The Dayton Area Board of Realtors, Vice President of the Clayton Planning Commission, and the Boardmember of Valley Brook Home Owners Association.

Political Party Affiliation: Independent

Clayton City Councilman Ray Slone Jr. faces two challengers for his seat in Tuesday’s election.

Besides Slone, Clayton’s 9,436 registered voters will get to choose from Mike Stevens, real estate agent, and Elaine Herrick. Herrick did not return phone calls placed by this newspaper for an interview.

Mike Stevens

Stevens said, if elected, his focus will be on bringing in development.

“I want to look at and figure out why we don’t get as much development in the north, specifically in Clayton, that some of these other communities do,” Stevens said. “You’ve seen a lot of explosion in development in the south suburbs, and I’d like to get some up here.”

Stevens added that his goal is to make Clayton a destination city for residents and business.

He touted his educational background and his leadership skills. Plus, he said his work schedule allows him the opportunity to serve on the council.

“When you have part-time legislators, you just don’t know how much time they are really putting in,” Stevens said. “I’m not saying that in a derogatory way toward our current folks, but for myself.”

Stevens said he would like to see a better economic plan for the next 10 years.

If elected, some of his ideas include looking for grants related to development and having business roundtable discussions about how to bring in business.

Stevens said he would grade city leaders with a B minus.

“I don’t think we’re in trouble, but I just don’t think we’ve had somebody pushing forward,” he said, referring to the city’s progress.

He wants to make sure the city council is transparent with its actions.

“We need to get out there and talk to our residents and find out what they want and find out why they feel like we’re a little bit stalled out,” he said.

Stevens went on to say that the city should capitalize on its land in terms to economic growth.

“The fact is we do have a lot of land here. We have a lot of green building space. I think it’s one of our strengths,” he said. “There are lots out there available that could be developed.”

He highlighted what he said was the city’s important corridors, which include the areas along North Main Street and those near Ohio 49.

Overall, Stevens said members of council need to be visible in the community, which is what he plans to do if elected.

Ray Slone Jr.

Slone said he wants to keep his council seat so that he can continue to help work on the city’s infrastructure and focus on efforts designed to grow the tax base.

“Our roads are in terrible, terrible shape,” Slone said. “A large amount of our sidewalks are crumbling. We have parts of our community that would love to have sewer and water. And each year, we’re going farther in the hole. You can look at it fiscally. Each year we have a little bit less than we did before.”

Slone said Clayton is missing what he calls a Clayton Tech Business Start Up Incubator.

“We’ve watched Dayton, Fairborn and Huber Heights. All these cities around us grow their technology base … We’re going to get left behind in that. That’s going to be one of those areas that when a company is looking at this area and is looking to see what we have to offer, they’re not going to look here as fast they will somewhere else. I’d like to change that.”

Slone is proposing that a portion of Main Street, the Village of North Clayton and possibly Meadowbrook at Clayton as tech start-up districts. These areas would have tax and land incentives and possibly grant and loan assistance to help build what Slone said are jobs of the future.

“My ideas for attracting business and development most often revolve around making an environment where business can thrive,” Slone said. “For instance, being in favor of lower business taxes and state and city incentives for small or home-based business as well as apprentice programs to educate our unemployed for more modern jobs.”

Slone is also interested in bringing 1,000 megabits per second or 1 gigabit Internet to Clayton.

“This would be the edge our city needs to attract business and new homeowners to the city,” Slone said. “Finding a private sector investor or possibly a business to help fund or sponsor the project would also take any funding for the project off the taxpayer.”

Slone is also focused on the Old Clayton sewer project.

“Sewer in Old Clayton was a promise made to the residents. So, when I first decided to run for office in Clayton it was always on my mind. Even when not actively running for office, I was still an advocate of the Old Town sewer project.”

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