Langner hopes to attract hardware store, bike shop By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKIThisWeek Community Newspapers

When working on their homeimprovement projects, Bexleyresidents have to leave the com-munity to find their supplies.

Economic development di-rector Bruce Langner believes

a hardwarestore mightbe a good fitfor the city.He recentlysent informa-tion aboutBexley toarea hardware

stores in an effort to promote

the city. “We don’t have a good hard-

ware store close to here,” Langn-er said. “I’ve mapped the storesaround us and the closest isLowe’s out on East BroadStreet.”

Langner said a lot of people

DIRECTORYNews: (740) 888-6100editorial@thisweeknews.com

Sports: (740) 888-6054sports@thisweeknews.com

Retail ads: (740) 888-6009jwillis@thisweeknews.com

Classified: (740) 888-5003classified@thisweeknews.com

Customer Service: 1-888-837-4342

February 10, 2011

View exclusive videos, stories, photos and more. Connect with other fans, parents and athletes.

CHAT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, CHEER ON YOUR TEAM.

City fighting to keep death tax aliveBy JEFF DONAHUEThisWeek Community Newspapers

Bexley city officials aren’t giving upon a critical source of revenue without afight.

Assistant House majority whip CherylGrossman and state Rep. Jay Hottinger(R-Newark) jointly introduced legisla-tion Jan. 12 to eliminate the Ohio estatetax, also known as the “death tax.”

House Bill 3 would allow small busi-ness owners, farmers and homeownersto pass on their assets to their heirs with-out being taxed twice on their savings.

Grossman and Hottinger believe the

legislation wouldmake Ohio more com-petitive for entrepre-neurial growth and in-vestment.

Ohio currently hasthe lowest estate taxexemption in the Unit-ed States. Just

$338,333 of the taxable estate is exemptfrom the estate tax, compared to an av-erage exemption amount of approximately$1.7-million for other states that haveone.

Over the past 10 years, estate tax rev-enues have accounted for approximate-

ly 17 percent of the city of Bexley’s an-nual operating revenue. That number hasvaried from a high of $4.3-million (33.6percent of operating revenues) in 2009to a low of $482,046 (5.4 percent) in 2007.

Council finance committee chairmanBen Kessler said he, Mayor John Bren-nan and other officials are investigatingthe issue, meeting with elected officialsand lobbying for alternative solutions.

“The mayor and I attended a meetinglast week with state Sen. Kevin Bacon todiscuss the impact to Bexley of the elim-ination of the estate tax and the local gov-ernment fund,” Kessler said. “It was agood meeting; Bacon was open to dis-

cussing alternative options, and felt thatthe Ohio Senate could possibly take amore nuanced approach to the elimina-tion of the tax — maybe phasing it outover several years, or stalling until thestate’s economic condition improved. Itwas a positive meeting, and I certainlyfelt coming out of it that our communi-ty was going to have a voice in theprocess.”

Kessler said H.B. 3 appears to be onthe fast track in the state legislature.

“My understanding is that hearings arestarting on HB3 at the house, with pro-ponent testimony currently occurring,and opponent testimony possibly being

heard in the next few weeks, with thehouse pushing for the passage of the billby May,” he said.

In addition to the meeting with Bacon,several members of Bexley City Coun-cil, as well as the mayor, have been intouch with State Rep. Nancy Garland,and other representatives.

Bexley is also part of a coalition ofcommunities who are concerned aboutpotential revenue losses that would comewith the passage of H.B. 3.

“The communities that I’m aware ofbeing part of the coalition off of the top

PINEWOOD DERBY

By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek

Spectators watch two cars race during Boy Scout Troop 166’s Pinewood Derby at Bexley United Methodist Church on Feb. 5.Troop members design and build the cars they race.

Restaurants have reservationsabout former Bexley Monk siteBy TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKIThisWeek Community Newspapers

The site of the former Bexley Monk restau-rant remains vacant despite efforts by the cityto attract a new eatery.

Potential restaurant users apparently havereservations about the space in the BexleySquare shopping center at College Avenueand East Main Street, including the econom-ic climate and the size of the space.

A fixture in Bexley for 26 years, the Monk’slast day of operation was June 26. At the timethe owners of the restaurant said reports thatCapital University was interested in acquir-ing the Bexley Square shopping center andconverting it to campus uses helped them reachthe decision to close.

Capital announced plans in April to buy the

shopping center across the street from its cam-pus but withdrew its rezoning request after re-ceiving negative feedback from Bexley CityCouncil. The Monk’s owners said a gradualdecline in business left them with no choicebut to close.

Bruce Langner, Bexley’s economic devel-opment director, said a restaurant owner fromSpringfield was interested in the site but even-tually decided to pass and concentrate on hisexisting business.

The size of the restaurant might be intimi-dating to potential restaurant owners.“I think 8,000(square feet) is too large for arestaurant today,” Langner said. “They wantit to be 5,000. My understanding is the prop-erty owner is willing to cut down the size toaccommodate someone.”

The space’s location in the Bexley Squareshopping center could also be a hindrance,Langner said. The restaurant is located in theback of the strip shopping center, and visibil-ity from Main Street is limited, he said.

Qualmannsays Bexleyneeds auditorBy JEFF DONAHUEThisWeek Community Newspapers

Bexley Auditor Gary Qual-mann says he isn’t sure whymembers of the city’s charter re-view commission want to get ridof the elected auditor positionand replace it with a director offinance appointed by the mayorand confirmed by city council.

“I never have received an an-swer as to why they want to dothis,” Qualmann said. “Nobodyhas ever really answered thatquestion.”

During a recent public meet-ing at Bexley High School, char-ter review commission chairmanJohn Offenberg and commissionmember Don Brosius both in-sisted the pending recommen-dation was not “personal.”

In a Jan. 9 e-mail to commis-sion member Stephen Keyes,Qualmann sought an explana-tion for the commission’s an-nouncement that it intends to rec-ommend the move to an ap-pointed director of finance.

“Once again, let me pose thequestion, which has not been an-swered, at least to my satisfac-tion — what is the problem withthe current strong mayor/strongauditor form of government thatwe have today,” Qualmann wrote.

“It is working great for the cityof Bexley and has for decades— and there is a reason for that.It was and is well designed tokeep potential political aspira-tions of an elected strong mayorfrom getting out of touch withthe financial realities supportedby a strong auditor. Checks andbalances, and independence, areextremely important and whatwe have today in Bexley.”

Qualmann said keeping theauditor position but having thefinance director report to themayor would not work because

“no one would accept the audi-tor position because you cannotgive the auditor all of the re-sponsibility but not the author-ity to supervise the staff, whichcarries out the duties of the fi-nance office.”

According to the Bexley char-ter, (Article V), “The Auditorshall perform all the duties andexercise all powers conferredupon the Auditor by this Char-ter, the ordinances of the Cityand the general laws of the Statedefining the duties and powersof auditors of cities.”

The Ohio Revised Code, sec-tion 733.10, 733.11, and 733.12describe specific responsibilitiesof properly keeping the booksand accounts that require a staffthat reports to the Auditor.

“ If you change the finance di-rector to report to the mayor, youwill be eliminating the auditorposition,” Qualmann said.

Qualmann also noted that ofthe nine local cities that werestudied by the commission, twohad elected auditors (with elect-ed mayors – like Bexley), fivehad finance directors reportingto a city managers (not electedmayors) and only two had fi-nance directors reporting to may-ors.

“In my view, only these last

Recreation board reviewsland-use commission’s adviceBy TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKIThisWeek Community Newspapers

Plans for Alum Creek devel-oped by the Bexley Land UseStrategy Commission includedeveloping a comprehensivecreek side park, putting in placeenvironmental protections forthe creek and providing contin-uous recreational access.

Members of the commissionpresented the plans to the Bex-ley Recreation Board on Feb. 2.

“When we first started look-ing at Alum Creek we started ex-ploring putting in place some en-vironmental protections for thecreek,” said commission chair-man Ben Kessler. “The city hasno regulations on how close youcan build to the creek and whatsort of activity can occur right

along the creek.”A lot of communities enact

protection for watershed areas,Kessler said. The city of Colum-bus has environmental protec-tion in place for bodies of waterin general. Bexley needs to de-cide what protection should beput in place to honor Bexley asan urban neighborhood,” he said.

I never have re-ceived an answer as to

why they want to dothis. Nobody has everreally answered that

question.

GARY QUALMANN— Bexley Auditor

“

”

Bruce Langner

See MONK, page A2

Ben Kessler

See ADVICE, page A3See SHOPS, page A4

See AUDITOR, page A4

See TAX, page A3