Race pits incumbent against former township trustee


Name: Cathy Anspach

Age: 55

Education: high school

Current Employment: Small business owner, health care aide

Political Experience: Four years, trustee

Political Party: Republican

Description of political office: Township trustee

Term of Office: Four years

Family: Divorced with children

Name: Jason Gabbard

Age: 42

Education: College training

Current Employment: Regional sales manager

Political Experience: One term, township trustee

Political Party: Republican

Description of political office: Trustee

Term of Office: Four years

Family: Married with two daughters

Source: Candidates

A township trustee and former trustee are running in the fall election for the same seat on the Clearcreek Twp. Board of Trustees.

Incumbent Jason Gabbard’s reelection to a second term is being contested by Cathy Anspach, a former trustee who lost a reelection bid two years ago.

Gabbard said he is the better choice to keep the township, just south of the Warren-Montgomery line and adjoining Springboro, moving forward.

“I don’t believe she’s serious about the job. I am. I will be,” he said, noting she barely beat the filing deadline to get on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Unlike Gabbard, Anspach said, she will be an independent voice and keep a tight rein on township finances.

“He is no more than a yes vote,” she said, explaining she ran close to the deadline because she decided to file on the way home from work.

In recent years, the trustees have operated with few problems. Anspach’s time as a trustee was controversial.

In 2011, the other trustees asked the county prosecutor to consider bribery, obstruction of justice and ethics charges against Anspach after she mistakenly accused the township’s chief of police of pressuring her for money. No charges were ever filed.

She testified for Jack Chrisman, her neighbor and political backer, in his lawsuit over the township’s violation of public meetings laws. The township was ordered to pay $200,000 in attorney fees in 2014.

If elected, Anspach said she would oppose property tax levies.

"The two biggest issues facing Clearcreek Township are taxes and levies. With the recent increase in property values, now more than ever we need to get a reign (sic) on how much property owners have to pay," she said in a response for the Dayton Daily News Voters Guide.

While both pledged to keeping costs down, Gabbard said there were no plans for new levies. The township maintains a police department and fire district covering Springboro, along with the unincorporated township.

Gabbard also said he would work to keep township costs down, but said there were no plans for new levies. The township maintains a police department, and a fire district covering Springboro, along with the unincorporated township.

If reelected, Gabbard pledged to continue working with other local leaders to continue the “mix of rural and managed growth” in the township, just south of the Warren-Montgomery board and adjoining Springboro.

“I will continue to work to attract business while maintaining the look and feel that our residents expect,” he said in a voters guide response.

The office comes with a four-year term. The winner is to be paid $20,568 a year.

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