Xenia will also get a new mayor. Current Councilman Ethan Reynolds is running unopposed to replace Mayor Will Urschel, who is not seeking reelection.
After the election, city council will appoint someone to take Reynolds’ council seat for the remainder of his term. This will be an open application process.
Rachel Huffman
Rachel Huffman is a political newcomer and CEO of Emerge Recovery and Trade Initiative.
Having worked in both nonprofit and public sector positions, the leadership skills and servant leadership ethos she has learned “would be good for the city,” Huffman said.
“I‘m not one of those people who sit in a room and just talk about things, and (are) full of ideas that never come to fruition. I like to hold people accountable and I like to hold myself accountable,” she said.
Xenia’s poor street conditions are a top concern for Huffman, though she opposes the city’s 0.24% income tax issue, also on the November ballot, which would fund street maintenance.
“People are tired of being taxed,” she said. “I think there’s potentially other opportunities that we can look into: grants, for example ... and then looking at where you can cut some expenses that’s not essential.”
While entirely eliminating property taxes in Ohio is unwise, Huffman said, she is in favor of accountability for entities spending tax dollars, and exploring tax relief options similar to an action Greene County Commissioners took earlier this month.
“Obviously, the taxes are high. How do we hold these entities accountable and make sure that (funds) are spent wisely? That would be ideal, in my mind,” Huffman said.
Huffman also is in favor of assembling a task force to better tackle Xenia’s ongoing addiction problems, better connecting people to community resources.
“We have to be able to say, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to do some street outreach. We’re going to make sure that we have regular contact with people ... What’s everybody’s part in that and what action steps are they taking?”
Jesse Rubio
Political newcomer Jesse Rubio is a small business owner with 13 years of experience in law enforcement.
If elected, Rubio’s top priorities would be “protecting families and our schools, ensuring the budget is balanced, and improving and maintaining infrastructure, Rubio said.
Rubio said he aims to strengthen law enforcement and public safety programs, including school resource officers. There has been discussion, Rubio said, if the street income tax levy is not passed, that funding would have to be diverted from law enforcement funding, which he is “not at all” in favor of.
“I feel that our schools should be protected. There should be SROs in our schools ... so I want to make sure those things stay in place,” he said.
Rubio says he intends to review Xenia’s budget for financial waste, and prioritize repaving roads and other utilities and infrastructure. The city could hire a grant writer to more aggressively pursue grant funding for street repairs, he said.
“There was a renewal bill that we’ve had in place since 1950 and last year, our city voted against it. People are just taxed out. So I think we have to make the best effort to find other money before we should tax our people,” he said.
Rubio said he wants to cultivate more businesses, organizations, and events in the city for families and young people to attend, citing the decline in shared spaces like skating rinks, bowling alleys, and other entertainment for which many people now go outside of the city.
“I would like to see family spaces as far as entertainment. I think this new market district is going to be great ... But also, we have to get behind this idea of our market district as far as businesses ... making it easy for these groups to want to start here in Xenia.”
Rubio has had tax issues in the past, according to city and county records. Most recently, a tax lien was filed against him in 2022 in Greene County court for $338 in unpaid school district income taxes, according to court records. Xenia Municipal Court records show Rubio was charged with failure to pay Xenia city income tax in 2011 and 2012.
Rubio said the 2022 lien was paid immediately and in full once he was made aware of it. He said the city tax issues “were the result of an accounting error by a former accountant, and once I became aware of it, I made sure everything was corrected and paid in full.”
“I take my financial responsibilities seriously and have always addressed any issue directly and immediately once it’s brought to my attention,” he said.
Thomas Scrivens
Thomas Scrivens is a lifelong Xenia resident. He was appointed to Xenia City Council in 2018, and elected to a four year term from 2019 to 2023.
“Voters have to know that if you’re voting for one of the your over-the-back-fence neighbors ... we want to just provide you service while we’re still alive,” he said. “You got a problem, let’s listen to you, and if we can intervene at all, we will, and that’s just it.”
Scrivens ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 2023. He said due to health issues at the time he didn’t do much campaigning.
He says he strongly supports the city’s income tax measure to address the city’s street infrastructure, but also believes the city should roll back its property tax collection to pre-2023 revaluation levels, calling the increases “a slap in the face.”
“f you want new streets, folks, just like a new house, a new car, a new pair of shoes, you’ve got to pay for it,” he said.
Scrivens’ second priority is maintaining the city’s emergency response capabilities, saying he would pursue building a new fire station and establishing a joint fire district between Xenia and Xenia Twp.
“We need a new fire station in Xenia like a hog needs slop,” he said. “With the new developments coming in...we’re just stretched thin.”
Lastly, Scrivens emphasized the importance of keeping healthcare services like Greene Memorial Hospital in the city of Xenia. The city and Kettering Health had a brief public spat as the hospital network floated the idea of shuttering Greene Memorial earlier this year.
“From Beavercreek to Bowersville...we need to go ahead and get it back. I think there’s enough people here to demand some type of services,” he said.
Scrivens has had issues with property taxes in recent years. He is trustee of a small property on Orchard Street in Xenia that has more than $12,000 in unpaid assessments. The Orchard Street property — essentially a small yard — is assessed by the county auditor as worth $450, county records show.
Scrivens said that he bought the Orchard Street property and an adjacent one in a sheriff’s sale roughly 20 years ago. The lion’s share of the $12,000 is mowing fees, Scrivens said, because — now in his 70s — he has difficulty maintaining the property himself.
“I acquired the property with the notion of making an investment and selling it to somebody to put a superstructure on, but it never came to fruition,” he said. “After 20-some years, I had to abandon the notion.”
Scrivens said the property will be foreclosed on, and eventually be surrendered to the county for a sheriff’s sale like the one he bought it from.
Scrivens also had a second property in the 700 block of East Church Street that was foreclosed on in 2022. Scrivens divested himself of the property via a quitclaim deed after the building was taken over by squatters, who were busted by Xenia police, he said.
“At that point, it was time for it to terminate its affiliation with me because it was good money chasing bad,” he said.
Scrivens transferred the property to another individual after a tax foreclosure filing, and the state took possession of it in 2024, according to county records.
Scrivens currently owes $220 in back taxes on his Xenia home, which he says he is working to repay.
The Dayton Daily News previously reported that Scrivens’ original appointment to council in 2018 followed charges more than a decade prior for not paying city taxes. But the city’s mayor at the time said those issues were in the past and didn’t disqualify him from serving on council.
Frank Trapanotto
An Air Force veteran and Xenia resident of 30 years, Frank Trapanotto said he is running for office out of the same sense of service that inspired him to join the military.
His top issues are addressing Xenia’s road issues, keeping marijuana out of the city, and addressing youth crime.
Regarding roads, Trapanotto credited the present council with giving the issue more attention than previous administrations, but said there is more to be done with seeking alternative funding.
While Trapanotto supports property taxes going towards funding essential services like police, fire and EMS, he is also in favor of supporting property tax relief efforts. Trapanotto added there is an amount of community distrust regarding the city income tax issue.
“There’s mixed feelings on that. There are people for it, people against it, people that are afraid that (the city is) telling us that this is supposed to be five years. We’re not absolutely sure that it will be five years, we’re thinking that it could be permanent,” he said.
While Xenia has an existing ban on marijuana dispensaries in the city, Trapanotto says there are community fears about marijuana becoming more prevalent and kids having access to drugs.
“We don’t want it. We figure we’ve got enough problems with drug use and stuff like that,” he said.
Hand in hand with that is addressing youth crime, which Trapanotto says is addressed by promoting traditional values.
“This seems simple, but it seems to be one of the hardest things that can go ahead and affect the youth in this town and get them on the right path, is basically having their faith, having their family, having their parents go ahead and teach them right from wrong,” he said.
Carlos Walker
Carlos Walker is running for city council after being appointed to his seat in January.
Walker is a 20-year resident of Xenia with almost 30 years of experience as a probation and court services professional, and currently works as the director of Montgomery County Adult Probation.
According to his campaign Facebook page, Walker also serves on the board of TCN Behavioral Health, with one of his core issues being tackling addiction and mental health, as well as creating places for teenagers to connect and receive peer support.
“My true passion lies in servant leadership, in giving back to others with my time and sharing the lessons I’ve learned in life. This is not just a duty, but a calling that inspires me daily,” Walker wrote on Facebook.
Walker did not respond to Dayton Daily News requests for an interview in time for this newspaper’s deadline.
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