ORC 737.15 Appointment of Village Marshal.
Each village shall have a marshal, designated chief of police, appointed by the mayor… The preceding is a direct quote from the Ohio Revised Code. It is in fact one of a Village Mayor’s first obligations. I know most of our residents are hoping that this appointment grows into a working Police Department and I promised 3 years ago to do my best to make that happen. Given the fact that my father helped create the Village’s first Police Department back in the 60’s, I felt duty bound to help create the Village’s last one. As with everything else Council and I have worked to implement, it is our intention to set up a police department in a manner that should insure its continued existence. There is a lot of groundwork to create a new police department in a Village that has never had one or has disbanded one. The trick has been to work towards establishing a police department with minimal public funds. Dan Bunting, our Chief, purchased a cruiser and donated it to the Village to help towards that goal. It doesn’t have a radar or radio in it, however, it can be used for traffic control and other emergencies and the Village provides insurance to make that possible. Other than that, and a portable radio, it has been our intention not to expend Village funds until we could begin patrolling. We knew this would be a challenge with equipment needs, a magistrate, clerk of courts and police personnel. It is my hope that when we do our annual appropriations in the near future, Council will be able to appropriate the necessary funds to launch a Police Department. I need to make very clear, “this is my hope”. I can’t promise anything until Council puts pen to paper and crunches the numbers. However, the Boy Scout in me always strives to be prepared and hope for the best. I am very proud to share with you that last week I swore in Chief Bunting’s first recruit, Sergeant Josh Weaver. Josh retired recently from the Ohio Highway Patrol with over twenty years of service, most recently as a motorcycle officer. Josh and I actually led our Fundays parade on motorcycles in 2006 during my former Mayor term. Josh brings a lot of expertise, skill and experience to our department! We are currently looking at another recruitment that will probably be sworn in by the time this letter reaches you. This leaves the equipment dilemma - to control the speed of traffic we must have a calibrated and certified radar. The solution to the dilemma came from the Village of Kirkersville! A couple of weeks ago Kirkersville Mayor, Terry Ashcraft, called to see if we were still trying to reinstate a police department and if we could use a police cruiser? He called again as I was typing this letter to let me know that Kirkersville Council agreed unanimously to donate a fully equipped police cruiser to the Village of Alexandria! Kirkersville Police Chief Jason Harget (formerly an Alexandria Police Officer) is planning to personally deliver the cruiser. I can’t wait to reunite with Chief Jason Harget and accept Kirkersville’s generous donation! The car has been well maintained, the radar recently calibrated and certified, so we need only put our name on it, a radio in it and we are ready to patrol! Marshall Bunting and Sergeant Weaver intend to build this department from scratch and go back to the basics. Protect and Serve “everyone,” high visibility and community interaction. The new department’s uniforms will be a lot less tactical and a little more country. Not to imply that our officers won’t have the equipment and the training to protect themselves and us, because they will. We plan to introduce our department (again if we have the resources to fund it) softly. That is plenty of notice, high visibility and warnings, if reasonable. Alexandria Mayor, Warren Young (Bud) After 27 years in the Village, most of it in service of the Village, Bud and Betsy Young have decided to move into a country home just outside of the Village. I got to know Betsy and Bud for the wonderful people they are when Bud served as Mayor of the Village from 2000 to 2004. Betsy has managed the Village’s oldest hair salon, Hair Remedies, for as long as I can remember, and I believe will continue to do so. Bud has served as Mayor, council person, park board, planning and zoning commission, to name a few. He also found time to remodel a couple of houses in the Village as well as build, manage and operate the world-renowned Ragamuffin’s Coffee. Bud and his family will be missed, even though they are right outside of town. No longer being a resident, Bud has resigned his council seat. Anyone that would like an opportunity to fill the empty council seat should submit a letter of interest to any council member. To be a council member you must be a registered voter and have been a resident of the Village for at least one year. Save our School I enjoyed a very promising meeting this evening with Northridge Superintendent Scott Schmidt, Ed Bohren from the Buckeye Valley Family YMCA, Dave Bibler from The Licking County Aging program, Jean Morrison, St. Albans Township Trustee and the head of our committee Jeff Mitchell. There was a tour of the Alexandria Primary School followed by a round table discussion (socially distanced and masked of course). A lot of interest was expressed in forming a partnership between this group to maintain the new portion of the building for the use of the community. Thanks to everyone that took the time to fill out and return the survey expressing the community’s desire to preserve the school building. I also need to thank Jeff Mitchell; he has put a lot of time and energy into bringing us to this point and if we are successful in saving the building it will be due to Jeff’s hard work. Also, a huge thank you to Superintend Scott Schmidt who also put an incredible amount of time and effort into the project. In addition, I would like to welcome Scott and his wife Erin to our Village. They purchased Bud and Betsy’s West Main Street home and are currently in the process of moving in! Santa Claus Special thanks to the St. Albans Fire Department, the Fire Association and Mike Smith for bringing Santa Claus to town! You were very much appreciated by young and old alike! Sincerely, Mayor Jim Jasper
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AuthorJim Jasper, Mayor Archives
December 2023
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