Fulton County Ohio Media

At last Monday’s Swanton Village Council meeting, Mayor Neil Toeppe read the following statement, challenging the Council to focus on “Fiscal Responsibility” and provided the members with an expanded definition of the term as it relates to the Village and the obligations of their position.  Mayor Toeppe’s full statement is below:

Fiscal Responsibility: More Than Cutting Costs

This Council has rightly focused on the importance of operating the Village within our means.  At the same time, we have a responsibility to continue providing the services our residents expect and, in some cases, to meet unfunded mandates that place additional pressure on our reserves.  Fortunately, many of those major unfunded obligations have now been addressed.  We are in a position to begin rebuilding our reserves while continuing to provide essential services. We have accomplished this without borrowing, issuing bonds, or increasing taxes.

But fiscal responsibility is about more than controlling expenditures.  It is also about growing the economic base that supports the services our residents expect.  Over the past several years, the Village has taken important steps in that direction.

After a three-year process, we have finalized the annexation of the remaining 30-plus acres of developable land into the Village. Combined with land already available, we now have more than 200 acres with potential for industrial and economic development.  We have also established a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) to make Swanton more competitive in attracting industrial and residential investment.  These actions are not simply about development. They are about the long-term fiscal health of the Village.

There are essentially two sides to fiscal responsibility:  1. Live within our means.  Control expenditures, prioritize services, manage debt responsibly, and protect our reserves.  2. Grow our means.  Expand the tax base, attract investment, encourage development, and create opportunities for future economic growth.  We cannot successfully focus on only one side of that equation.

This brings me to a challenge for Council:  What is your collective vision for the economic future of Swanton?  It is not enough to say that we need to reduce spending. Council also needs to identify where it wants the Village to go and what policies it is prepared to support to get us there.  There is an old saying: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”

Council sets the direction of the Village through its legislative actions. The administration is responsible for implementing that direction.  That becomes difficult when the administration knows what Council wants to avoid but does not know what Council collectively wants to accomplish.

To date, we have heard a great deal about operating within our means. That is important and necessary. But we have not yet seen a clearly articulated, collective vision for growing the economic base of the Village.  And Council should recognize that it already has a powerful role in shaping that future: Council approves the budget under which the administration operates.

So, the question is not whether Swanton should be fiscally responsible. We all agree that it should.  The question is whether fiscal responsibility will be defined solely as spending less—or whether it will also include creating the conditions that allow Swanton to generate more.  I challenge this Council to develop and articulate a collective vision for economic growth.

A Possible Council Vision Statement.  I think Council could ultimately work toward something as simple as:

“Our vision is to make Swanton a financially strong, economically vibrant, safe, attractive, and connected community—one that responsibly invests in its infrastructure, supports its residents and businesses, protects its quality of life, and creates opportunities for the next generation.”

The bigger question for Council.  I would challenge Council to move the conversation from:  “What can we afford to do?” to: “What do we want Swanton to become, and what will it take to get there?”  Then the financial question becomes:  “How do we responsibly fund that vision?”  That distinction is important. A budget tells you what you can do this year. A vision tells you what you are trying to accomplish over the next 10–15 years.

Tell the administration—and more importantly, tell the residents of Swanton—where you want this Village to be five, ten, and twenty years from now.  We have worked hard to put the tools in place: developable land, expanded corporate limits, a CRA, responsible financial management, and a strong foundation of municipal services.

Now we need the vision to put those tools to work.  The future of Swanton should not be defined simply by what we can cut.  It should also be defined by what we can build.

Photo: Mayor Toeppe reads his statement to Council

Swanton Village Councilman Deacon Dzierzawski, recently accused of micromanaging the Village Administration by several individuals, was called to task by fellow Councilman John Schmidt for similar issues during Monday night’s emotionally-charged and tension-filled Village Council meeting.  Mr. Dzierzawski’s demands on the previous Fiscal Officer Holden Benfield’s time were given, in part, by Mr. Holden, for his resignation in March of this year.  Similar demands on Village Administrator Shannon Shulters’ time were also given, in part, by Ms. Shulters, for her impending resignation which is scheduled to take effect on August 31^st.

Statements regarding the current state of affairs of the Council were read by Mayor Neil Toeppe, Administrator Shulters, and Councilwoman Westhoven.  Following those statements Mr. Schmidt spoke.  “I have been relatively quiet over the past few months regarding to recent events and comments made in the public gallery.  And I have reached a point where I can no longer maintain that silence,” he said.  Councilman Schmidt then read a prepared statement which is below in its entirety:

“Councilman Dzierzawski’s heavy reliance on the Ohio Municipal League over the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Auditor of State and the Ohio Attorney General’s office is misguided, without merit and simply wrong.  The Ohio Municipal League may be experts, but they are NOT the authority.  He has quoted precedent and accepted practice for his actions since winning the election in 2025. I question where “precedent and accepted practice” were established; certainly not here in the Village of Swanton.  Therefore, there can be no existence of “precedent” or “accepted practice” in Swanton.

Nowhere in the Ohio Revised Code does it state or delineate the authority of individual council members.  In fact, the ORC continually refers to the “legislative authority” which is the council body as a whole.  The only exception is the President Pro Tempore, and the duties that member carries out in the absence or incapacitation of the mayor.

Each member of this Council is a representative of the people, chosen by the electors to represent them in matters of legislation and oversight (side note: oversight does NOT mean management; it means supervision or watchful care).  That legislation and oversight happen only at meetings of the village Council.  No individual member has that authority outside Council chambers.  Once a meeting has ended and a member leaves the Council chambers, he or she is John Q. Public, with no more authority than any other citizen of the village, and with the same rights.

I’d offer Councilman during the emotionally charged and tension-filled Village Council meeting this advice:  Stay within the rules outlined in the Ohio Revised Code, the Village Officer’s Handbook, by the Auditor of State and the Attorney General’s office; stay within the boundaries of the Village Council; and raise questions and concerns during meetings of the Council. 

It is no secret that Councilman Dzierzawski’s aggressive and ostentatious nature has created a toxic environment within the village administration.  That environment has been filled with mistrust and apprehension.  He claims it is “absurd” to believe that the resignation of the Fiscal Officer and the Village Administrator can blamed on him or his position or his actions.

Councilman Dzierzawski campaigned last year on a platform of transparency, yet he has not released any emails or documentation he generated or received from any of the village administrative or department heads.

In that regard, I would make a motion that Councilman Dzierzawski release to every member of this Council any and all emails to Village administrative team, safety chiefs and department heads, any handwritten notes of phone conversations, any email responses from them, any reports or any other documentation in his possession regarding budgets, personnel, equipment and or operations before the next meeting of Swanton Village Council scheduled for August 24, 2026.”

Councilman Dave Pilliod spoke next, defending Mr. Dzierzawski’s questions to the Administration during business hours but did not comment on the overall quantity or the hours spent researching for answers.  He did encourage his fellow Council members to try and move past the recent disagreements and work together for the Village’s benefit.

Editor’s Note:  This meeting, like all Swanton government meetings, can be viewed on the Village’s Facebook page. 

Photo: Swanton Village Council (L to R) – Dave Pilliod, John Schmidt, Deacon Dzierawski, Shannon Shulters, Neil Toeppe, Dianne Westhoven, Pat Pilliod, Noah Kreuz

On Saturday afternoon, at Memorial Park during the Swanton Corn Festival, the Swanton Rotary Interact students made a generous donation of $700 to Swanton Local School District’s Backpack Buddies Program.  Interact raised the funds by holding a Swanton Middle School dance earlier this year.

Representing the Interact students were Julianna Avery and Ellie Sgro, and representing the Backpack Buddies was program administrator and long-time Swanton Schools educator, Chris Elliot.  Ms. Elliot thanked the NHS and was very appreciated of the donation. 

Backpack Buddies is a community-based initiative designed to support children who may not have reliable access to food outside of school. The program provides weekend food packs containing healthy, easy-to-prepare meals, snacks, and sometimes personal care or educational items, helping children return to school ready to learn and thrive

As we all know, food prices have risen dramatically the past few years along with other necessary items such as fuel and medical insurance.  Some food pantries and organizations that sponsor community meals have scaled back operations citing the cost of food.  Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been frozen in place by the Trump Administration until October 1, 2027, meaning there will be no increases in benefits until then, even as food costs continue to rise. Donations such as this by the NHS are becoming even more critical.

Photo: Chris Elliot (Center) receives the check from Julianna Avery (Right) along with Ellie Sgro (Left)

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On Monday afternoon, the Delta Lady Panthers lost out to the Swanton Lady Bulldogs by a single stroke, 202-203, in an NWOAL golf match at their home, White Pines Golf course.  Delta’s Mackenzie Grahn captured Medalist Honors, carding a score of 41, four strokes ahead of Swanton’s Raegan Rominski at 45.  Only the top four scores are factored into the team total.

Swanton Lady Bulldogs:  Raegan Rominski (45), Audrey McFarland (51), Audrey Carte (52), Gabbie Orner (54), Jocelyn Villagomez (61), Ellie Sgro (68), Total = 202

Delta Lady Panthers:  Mackenzie Grahn (41), Aubree Perdew (50), Sophie Ford (56), Aleiya Moore (56), Ana Gilders (61), Madelyn Lowe (70), Total = 203

Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Two Delta golfers (Left) and two Swanton golfers (Right) waiting to tee off.

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From the Color Run to the All-Class Reunion to the Parade to all the great activities at Memorial Park, the 2026 Swanton Corn Fest Committee orchestrated a fabulous and memorable three days of fun for the Greater Swanton Community. Congratulations and thank you to Chairs Alyssa Walberg and Stephanie Fessenden and the rest of the hard working committee members who volunteered countless hours for the benefit of all those who attended.

Click on the link above to access photos from the Memorial Park activities. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be down loaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Almost five months after the position of Fiscal Officer became vacant, the Swanton Village Council hired Joyce Marie Elmore, currently employed as a Senior Accountant by the Robert Half Human Resource Consulting Firm out of Perrysburg.  Ms. Elmore and her colleague Ryan Larzelere appeared before Council during a Special Council meeting offering her services Elmore at a rate of $91.00 per hour with a minimum of 37.5 hours per week and a contract of no less than six weeks or a total of $20,475.  Shortly after that meeting, Ms. Elmore applied to the Village for the Fiscal Officer’s position.  During the Executive Session at last evening’s Council meeting, Council rejected the offer from the consulting firm and accepted Ms. Elmore’s application. 

The special meeting was called after a plea for help by Village Administrator Shannon Shulters who had assumed the Fiscal Officer responsibilities in the interim.  “Over the past several months, I have reached a level of burnout that I can no longer ignore. Time is the one thing none of us ever gets back, and this position has required me to sacrifice an extraordinary amount of mine. I have missed time with my family, evenings, weekends, holidays, and countless personal moments because I believed the Village came first. While I accepted those sacrifices for a season, they cannot become a permanent expectation,” explained Ms. Shulters.

The Robert Half Consulting Firm spoke highly of Ms. Elmore and her qualifications:  Joyce Marie is a highly skilled Senior Accountant with a strong knowledge of full-cycle accounting. She has experience with AP/AR, general ledger, journal entries, month-end & year-end close reconciliations, fixed assets, payroll, financial analysis, Sales & Use Tax, reconciliations and creating SOPs. Joyce Marie is a hard worker with an incredible drive and a wonderful personality.

Proficiencies – AP/AR, Cash applications, Collections (consumer & B2B), Journal Entries, Reconciliations, General Ledger, Sales & Use Tax, Payroll, Creating SOPs, Month-end Journal Entries   Industry Experience – Manufacturing, Non-Profit, Automotive, Restaurant, Agriculture   Software Knowledge – SAP, QuickBooks, Excel, Great Plains, JD Edwards, Kronos, AS400, Adobe, QAD, Atlas, CorelDraw, Publisher Education: BA in Accounting, University of Toledo.

Ms. Elmore will begin working for the Village on Monday, August 17^th, with an annual salary of $73,000 following a background check and drug screening.  No compensation to the consulting firm was required.

Photo: New Village Fiscal Officer Joyce Marie Elmore on the right

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The streak of fabulous Swanton Corn Festival Parades continued this past Saturday morning as three rivers of entertainment from the Swanton Sports Center, Brookside Drive and the Swanton High School driveway converged onto Main Street at 10:30 PM and headed east for 60 minutes of showtime for a large excited crowd.

Parade Chair Hannah Gombash, along with Taylor Riester and the rest of the parade committee, once again, put together an amazing lineup for all the Swanton area residents and hundreds of visitors from around Northwest Ohio who were fortunate enough to witness the event.

The theme for this year’s parade was the celebration of America’s 250th Birthday and serving as the Grand Marshal was the Ohio Air National Guard 180th Fighter Wing stationed at Toledo Express Airport. For the second consecutive year, Tri-County Block and Brick was voted First Place in the Best Float competition. The Swanton Sports Center was chosen for Second Place and Kesters ‘Tis the Season grabbed the Third Place prize.

Click on the link above to access well over 700 photos from the parade. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountumedia.com website.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LsMCdBqQAp4rrDL27

About an hour before the start of the Swanton Corn Festival’s 2026 Color Run, the weather looked like it could ruin the evening’s good time. There was thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening. Fortunately, the skies calmed down and the show went on.

Click on the link above to access photos from night’s craziness. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/raYvrPEET75aFin47

The Swanton Bulldogs Boys’ Golf Team fired a school record 299 on Wednesday morning at Valleywood Golf Club to win their own Bulldog Invitational, easily outdistancing the second place Montpelier Locomotives (311) by 12 strokes.  The Otsego Knights (330) finished third in the 10-team tournament followed by the Anthony Wayne Generals (341), Delta Panthers (347), Liberty Center Tigers (357), Evergreen Vikings (361), Swanton Bulldogs “B” (366), Maumee Valley Hawks (386) and Springfield Blue Devils (410).

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Carter Malak who shot an even par score of 71 to edge out teammate Dylan Smigelski (72) for Medalist Honors.  Christian Butler and Camden Kozakaiecicz each shot a 78 to complete the scoring for Swanton.  Carson Bond had an 82 and Brendan Upham scored an 88 for the Bulldog’s “A” team.

Malak and Smigelski topped the All-Tournament Team followed by Brady Wyckhouse (73) of Liberty Center, Keegan Clapp (73) of Delta, Tony Capretta (74) of Liberty Center, Owen Summer (76) of Montpelier, Malachi Smelter (76) of Montpelier, Christian Butler (78) of Swanton and Kade Stweart (78) of Montpelier.  Camden Kozakaiecicz’s score lost out on the All-Tournament team due to a tie-breaker.

The Invitational victory was a major accomplishment for the Bulldogs and first-year coaches Austin Luce (Head Coach) and Carter Swank (Assistant Coach) who are also Swanton Alumni and were very accomplished golfers when they played in high school.  “We kind of had a rough start to begin the season,” said Swank.  “But we came in with a plan today and executed the plan and shot very well.”

Click on the link above to access photos from the Invitational. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Swanton Bulldog Invitational Champions

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Soon to be a Swanton High School senior, Dylan Smigelski competed this summer in the Toledo Junior Golf Association (TJGA) and performed well enough to make the cut and be invited to the TJGA Founder’s Tournament held at historic Inverness Golf Club in Toledo.  Playing in a number of tournaments around Northwest Ohio, Dylan joined 28 other area top high school boy golfers for the final TJGA tournament at Inverness, one of the most prestigious golf courses in the nation and the site of many PGA and LPGA Major Championships, such as the U.S. Open, the PGA National Championship and will be hosting the Women’s U.S. Open in 2027.

Paired with Thomas Woycik (77/+6) of Toledo St. Francis and Will Parker (79/+8) of Delphous St. John, Smigelski fired a very impressive round of 76 (+5) on the par 71 course to finish ninth overall out of the field of 29.  Michael Distefano of Maumee and Charlie Swigart of Ottawa Hills tied for medalist honors with a score of 72 (+1).  Helping the cause, Adam Lemon, former teammate and SHS 2026 alumni, served as Dylan’s caddie.

Entering his final season of high school golf, Dylan looks to build on a very successful junior year in 2025.  He earned First Team All-NWOAL, qualified for the DII District Tournament, which he subsequently achieved medalist honors and qualified for the DII State Tournament in Columbus.

The Bulldogs begin the 2026 season in earnest tomorrow morning when they compete against 20 teams from across the region this Thursday at the 25th Annual Irish Invitational, hosted at Stoneridge Golf Club in Bowling Green.  The Invitational will feature a shotgun format with an 8:30 AM tee-time.  On Wednesday, August 5^th, Swanton will host the Bulldog Invitational at Valleywood Golf Club with a tee-time of 8:00 AM.  Leading the Bulldogs this season will be Swanton Alums, Austin Luce as Head Coach and Carter Swank as Assistant Coach.

Click on the link above to access photos from the tournament. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Dylan Smigelski tees off on the third hole at Inverness