Mark Welch, the long-standing trustee of West Chester, Ohio, has undoubtedly been one of the main reasons that the northern Cincinnati community is one of the best places to live in the world. And that’s not just me saying that because I like West Chester, Ohio. Years ago, some effective policies were implemented to limit government overreach and foster a free enterprise approach to the growing community. This was achieved through a collaborative effort, led by then-trustee George Lang, with Mark Welch subsequently elected to provide a much-needed second vote. It used to be that George was always outvoted two to one, and he needed someone who could share his vision with him. The result was a period of prosperity in West Chester, Ohio, which has made it unquestionably one of the best places to live anywhere in the world. As a result, many people have moved into the area, bringing with them political ideas reflective of their origins, which have evolved. George is now Senator Lang of Ohio, representing the 4th District. However, Mark Welch remains a trustee who is now up for re-election in 2025. With his excellent track record, he should have an easy re-election to his seat. But we don’t want to take anything for granted. Another long-time holdout, Lee Wong, who is very sympathetic to Chinese causes, is also up for re-election. He is the kind of person who a lot of Democrats vote for, so he tends to get support from the many moderate Republicans, and the Democrats so there is some concern that in a race that is introducing the long term police chief to the mix Joel Herzog, that if Republicans don’t work together, that damage could be done to the seats in West Chester.
Most of the time, there aren’t many people who run for these spots, and it could be assumed that Mark would win his seat back and that there would be room for Joel Herzog to join him. Lee Wong, under all considerations, is vulnerable for many reasons, but he plays nicely enough with Republicans to avoid drawing too much hate, which is part of his strategy. In a three-way race for two seats, it can get tricky. The ideal situation would be for Republicans to show up and support Mark and Joel, thereby putting Lee in third place. However, as I mentioned earlier, Lee will likely draw Democrat votes without needing to do much campaigning. And the way these elections work is that it’s the best of the candidates who get the highest vote count. Therefore, the top two vote-getters will win the seats. And if it were just between these three, I would say Mark Welch would have no problem retaining his seat. Joel Herzog is a good guy who comes highly recommended by everyone who knows him. I have mentioned that, as a former police chief, it would be challenging for him to negotiate police contracts as a trustee with impartiality. But most people agree that the good stuff with him is so good that that’s not a concern in his regard. To regain the support of two conservative West Chester trustees, it will require a coordinated effort to retain Mark and help Joel win without one of them losing to Lee Wong. The current belief is that Lakota schools will attempt to put a levy on the ballot, which is expected to attract many big-spending Democrats, making the math for Lee much more favorable than in previous years.
Then there is the issue of Ann Becker. A couple of other prominent Democrat challengers, affiliated with the Kathy Wyenandt area Democrats, who are certainly in the minority, are also running. Still, they are organizing to tag-team their efforts with the Lakota school levy push, so they hope to have higher than normal voter turnout to capture some advantage. Ann Becker is the third trustee who was formerly a Tea Party conservative, serving as president of the Cincinnati Tea Party and the West Chester Tea Party. She used to have a show on 55 KRC to discuss Tea Party topics, but Ann Becker is long gone these days. She used to be a good tag team vote with Mark Welch, but she has changed quite a lot over the years, to the point where she might as well be a Democrat. Therefore, electing Joel and retaining Mark become that much more critical. When I first met Ann, whom I have been good friends with for a long time, she was associated with the levy supporters of Lakota, and we were at odds politically. However, I always liked Ann, and she made a transition into the Tea Party movement, where we saw many things eye to eye. People would warn me that she used to be a Democrat. But I liked her anyway. I also like Kathy Wyenandt, too, as a person. However, Democrats are not adept at handling money or policy, and the needs of West Chester require a particular kind of mind. Unfortunately, Ann has lost her way and reverted to the person she was before I met her, before the Tea Party movement. These individuals might be friendly, but they shouldn’t be in government.
The other two candidates stepping into the crowded race for those two trustee seats are both Democrats: Alyssa Louagie and Amanda Ortiz. I don’t think either one of them has a chance, but they think they do because they plan to tag-team the Lakota levy, which many are counting on Ann to lend her support as well. So, we suddenly have a lot of Democrats taking a calculated leap into the mix, hoping that something will stick. There is also a risk of losing what made West Chester great and falling into the same trend that muddles so many other communities, which assume that their success stories can survive with Democrats moving into positions of leadership. People see things going well, so they give the misfit toys a chance, out of the luxury of success. Then democrats ruin everything, and they want to attach themselves to the success story of West Chester, and the game for the rest of us is to preserve that success by re-electing Mark Welch and adding Joel Herzog. However, the Democrats want to capitalize on the success to fund their social engineering projects, which will then alter everything great about West Chester, turning it into just another typical community that has seen its success fade because it was taken for granted. And if we let the Democrats have a greater share of the seats at the table, we could easily end up with three Democrats as trustees, which would be detrimental to the interests of the other parties. That provides some early math to put the situation in perspective. I think it will be good for Lakota to put out their ridiculous school levy because it will bring out more MAGA, Trump-voting Republicans, who will only help Mark hold his seat. I think the math works in Mark’s favor to pick up votes this year, given the anger at Lakota schools over their proposed tax increases. But we’ll see. What we do know is who is running, and it’s now that the strategies for preserving West Chester need to be developed, before it’s too late. And taking a long view, Joel would be great, but the more strategic seat comes up in a few years. To protect West Chester, we need a strategy and a lot of players willing to support the long view, especially in a crowded field.
Rich Hoffman
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