Bill Smith and Katherine Baylock square off for Stark commissioner post

Stark County voters will have their first chance to express their opinion through their votes on how Stark County Commissioner Bill Smith, a Republican from Canton Township, has done in his first term.

Or on whether they believe Democrat Katherine Baylock, of Canton, will be a better option for the next four years.

Overseeing budget

During his first term as commissioner, Smith, 64, a longtime owner of Smith's Waco Market store and former Canton Township trustee, appears to have been on the same page on the county budget with his two fellow board members Richard Regula and Janet Weir-Creighton.

Spend conservatively and leave a sufficient emergency reserve. That led to the county having nearly $20 million in reserves this year to cushion the temporary hit to county sales tax revenue due to the pandemic. Seek to avoid any major increases in spending in operations except cost-of-living pay increases of about 2 to 3% a year. Look for savings. Like moving up a purchase of cameras for sheriff's cruisers to get a better rate. 

But spend sufficiently on building maintenance, renovations, infrastructure improvements and capital projects to address aging buildings before issues become more expensive.

Smith as commissioner has represented Stark County on the Board of Trustees for the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System. He pushed for downsizing the system, giving raises but reducing staff overtime as the number of juveniles sentenced to be incarcerated have plummeted. 

Smith also promoted the new countywide radio system to encourage local police, fire departments and school districts to join.

“We made sure that we got (radio units for the system) in every school so if anything God forbid happens, they have to push just one button,” he said.

Alternative

Baylock, 66, executive manager of the not-for-profit We Are Troubled On Every Side or W.A.T.O.E.S., said she doesn't have any criticism of Smith.

She wants to be a commissioner "because it was something that I was interested in. County activities, county events."

Baylock, a married mother of two and grandmother of  five, said voters should support her "because I’m an honest person. I strive to do what’s right and I acknowledge God in everything that I do.”

She said she moved to Canton in 1973 to attend Malone University. She left after about a year when she got married. From 1974 to the early 1990s, she said she worked as a medical assistant, an activity therapist for United Cerebral Palsy, an employment interviewer for the Job Training Partnership, which is now Ohio Means Jobs, an office manager for a health services company and a hospital liaison and case manager for Siffrin, which serves people with developmental disabilities.

She said she co-founded W.A.T.O.E.S. in 1982 and began working full time for the organization in the mid-1990s, overseeing its programs, fundraising and budget. She said her group empowers "people through community services/family structure and function to build healthy self-esteem." The organization's website says it organizes senior activities, children activities, parenting sessions, tutoring and educational field trips.

Baylock said she got her bachelor's degree in communications from Walsh University in 2008. She said she also founded the Affairs of the Community Neighborhood Association in southeast Canton, which she said successfully advocated for the construction of a fire station at 415 Belden Ave. SE. And Baylock said she volunteered to recruit police officer applicants. She provided a long list of numerous awards she's won acknowledging her community service.

She said if elected, "I would perform the duties that would be required of me to the fullest of my potential. ... I would not go into the position as an individual ... because everything is done through a team effort.”

Baylock said her priorities would be economic development, social justice, infrastructure and job creation.

It's at least Baylock's third attempt to be Stark County commissioner and she has vied for other positions.

In a four-candidate Democratic primary in 2016, she finished second to former State Rep. Stephen Slesnick of Canton. And in 2018, she lost to Creighton.

In 2015, Baylock was one of 15 candidates elected to a proposed Canton Charter Commission.  But Canton voters in the same election rejected a charter, so the commission never convened.

In 2017, Baylock run unsuccessfully for a Canton council at-large seat. 

Businessman to official

Smith, a married father of two and grandfather of nine, was born and raised in East Canton and graduated from East Canton High School in 1974. After working for convenience stores and supermarkets, he got a job at Waco Market and ended up buying it in 1976 from the owner who wanted to retire. Smith said the store now has about 40 employees.

Smith served four terms as Canton Township trustee from 2002 to 2016. One of his major challenges was improving the township's financial record keeping after the Ohio State Auditor declared the township's records under former township fiscal officer Sheri Griffith "unauditable."

Smith said he and the other trustees also entered into cooperative economic development agreements with Canton to preserve the township's property tax revenue from land annexed by the city.

In late 2015, Smith, seeking a countywide-level role, filed to run and won commissioner's seat vacated by Thomas Bernabei, who had been elected Canton's mayor. 

Smith said during his first term, he focused on fostering fiscal stability for a county government that's undergone numerous budget crises since the 1980s.

Smith said he also owns Waco Properties, a property management company. And he said that experience dealing with maintenance issues and contractors helped him to effectively oversee the numerous capital projects that have come before the commissioners. That included the renovation of the Stark County pound, county auditor's office and Midtown Building and the replacement of the roofs of the county courthouse and county office building.

Smith also supported the sheriff's office in 2019 taking over operations of the dog warden's office so deputies could respond 24 hours a day to reports of stray dogs and dangerous dogs.

Smith said if re-elected, he wants to continue being cautious on the county's spending, wary that the coronavirus could again disrupt the economy. And he wants to help coordinate the county's economic development with the Stark Economic Development Board, cities and townships.

“I can only do what I can do and hopefully if people notice and appreciate it they check my box," he said. "I know i’m enjoying what I’m doing. Hopefully, I'm doing what they want."

Reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.