Rutenberg eyes seat on Cloverdale Town Board

As a real estate agent and bus driver, Daphne Rutenberg is familiar with helping people in Cloverdale. 

Now, Rutenberg, who is a 2007 graduate of Cloverdale High School and mother of four kids, is looking to help further by seeking the District 3 seat on the Cloverdale Town Board. 

She is running against incumbent Brandon Tancak, who has suspended his campaign and resigned his seat, but will remain on the ballot. 

Tancak said he had grown tired of rumors, falsehoods and personal attacks against him and his family on social media as a main reason why he decided to resign. 

Rutenberg, who has also served as a moderator on a chatter group on Facebook, said she hopes civility can return to local politics. 

"I hope so. We need to. It is sad, and it is very unfortunate that it has turned out like this. It's not how I wanted it to go. I hope we can all come together and get along. I don't like it. I am not happy about it, and it makes me sad. I don't have any control over that. I can just encourage the community to come together, don't fight, don't bicker, don't make stuff up and get away from the drama. There's some people that feed on the drama, and I just hope we can get away from it," Rutenberg told The Putnam County Post. 

As for why she threw her hat in the ring, the political newcomer said she wants to be a part of why people love the town. 

"I want to be a part of why people love Cloverdale, make it a place where kids want to stay, kids are happy and they enjoy it," Rutenberg said. 

She said there are a lot of things that make Cloverdale a special place to its residents, including the parks and trails. 

"It's a nice park. It is always busy in the summer time. There are a lot of small businesses down there, there are a lot of popup shops. There is also a group called Cloverdale MainStreet, which is made up of volunteers, that does a lot to help promote the town," Rutenberg said. 

 Rutenberg said discussions of a proposed solar farm coming to Cloverdale got her involved in politics. 

EnergyRe had looked to bring a 2,500 acre, 300 megawatt solar farm to an area between Cloverdale and Jefferson townships in Putnam County. The decision was defeated by the Putnam County Commissioners and EnergyRe has since pulled an application for a smaller project, putting an end to any plans presently. In addition, there is current moratorium in place by the Commissioners on solar farms, wind farms and data centers. 

"Solar really got me involved in politics. I was never really into politics. I don't want to be a politician. I am a resident of Cloverdale, and I want to listen to the people, have transparency and speak to my neighbors, get their opinions on anything that will be voted on and talk in the board meetings for them. The solar got me involved. I tried to get signatures for the petitions. There is just so much about the solar, you can go on and on about it. There's the money about it, the property values, but I care more about the health and safety of people in our town. I don't care about the money.That's what got me started. If I do get elected, I want to be 100 percent transparent. I want people to come talk to me and tell me how they feel," Rutenberg said. 

Rutenberg said she is aware that one of the biggest "constraints in Cloverdale" is going to be the budget.

"We need more money. Every town needs more money. Every person needs more money. Budget and money is going to be a big factor we are going to have to figure out when we get in there," she said. 

To complicate things in the future will be fallout from Senate Bill 1, which could force municipalities around the state, including Cloverdale, to make tough decisions when it comes to the budget and services.

"If elected, I will get in there, talk to people, find out the budget and see where we can make cuts. It all depends on if I get elected, and I can get in there and see where the money is being spent. I want to be transparent, figure out where the money is at and then meet people, tell them I have more information and get input rather than it being a big surprise and expecting people to come to the monthly meetings," Ruttenberg said. 

In addition, Rutenberg said the ongoing discussions surrounding a potential fire territory in Cloverdale is also a big issue for her. 

During the February meeting, Township Trustee Dale Monnett and Cloverdale Volunteer Fire Chief Kerry Shepherd approached council for the second month in a row, looking to have a discussion about a proposed fire territory. The territory would have included Cloverdale Township, the town of Cloverdale and Taylor Township, as Warren Township had previously voted against joining. A motion by board member Larry Fidler did not garner a second and the motion died on the floor. Nobody brought forward another motion on the proposal. Despite that, Cloverdale officials vowed to continue to give the fire department $35,000 a year under its current agreement. 

"I have a great deal of respect for the volunteers that go running towards a fire to help people. Obviously, they came begging the town for the help. I am a resident of the town too, and they said property taxes were going to go up. I was like, "whoa, 12 percent? I don't know what to do. Like, I pay property taxes too." I don't want my property taxes to go up, but I know we need to pay our fire department. They are volunteers, they have done this for years, and they've gotten no compensation. We need to help them," Rutenberg said. 

Also at the February meeting, the Cloverdale Town Board learned about the financial impact of the fire territory, including an admission that the proposal included a 12-and-a-half percent property tax increase on assessed value for Cloverdale and Cloverdale Township property owners. 

Rutenberg said she did the math when it came to that claim. 

"It's not going to go up the whole 12 percent in the beginning. I don't know all the facts, but I know they said it's only three percent in the first year. I don't know if there is something we can do or something we can research the three percent. These are rough numbers they gave the town, and they are not set in stone. I don't know if there are grants out there. They say there is a grant for everything, so maybe we can start researching and get someone to write a grant for us to help the fire department. I don't know all the facts and details, but I do know our police department and our fire department are great in our town and we rely on them. I'm the person who thinks everyone needs a raise. Police and fire put their lives on the line for us, they care about the town and the people more than the money. I would like to figure out a way to get the fire department paid, whatever we can do. I don't know what the answer is yet, but we can figure it out," Rutenberg said. 

If elected, Rutenberg said she would like to find a way to get a paid, full time fire department. 

"The proposal they asked for was two part time people so they have enough to cover all the runs. We need to do more research and figure out more ways to help them get this fire territory in here and make it work. We need it," Rutenberg said. "I know there are timelines they have to go by for this fire territory they tried to do. If the town made the motion and let it move forward to the public hearings, I feel like that would have been the better option. If they voted yes to the public hearing, the fire department could have moved one step closer to tell the community what it needed. I don't know what the options are now, but if we could go back and redo it, getting to the public hearing would have been huge. If we can make this year's fundraisers the biggest they've ever had and let the fire department know we support them and are here for them, that would be great. I know they plan their lives around the fire department. They go running towards fires, and it is very hard for me to go running towards a fire for anything. I have four little kids, I am their mom and I am supposed to be here for them. Anything can happen in these fires, and I don't want to risk that."

There was a time Cloverdale had a town fire department and was not strictly volunteer. As for if the town will ever get back to that, Ruttenberg said she did not know. 

"I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. The research I have done, I feel like, budget wise, the fire territory would have taken the money constraints off the town. I know if it is the town fire department, that is more money the town will be paying the fire department is my understanding. When that happened in 2005, I was a lot younger and didn't understand as much, but I don't know. I don't know how the town is going to be able to pay for that. I don't know where we go from here. They know more about it than I do, but I am here to help and rally the people and see what we can do," she said. 

Growing is also something Rutenberg would like to see happen.

"I am a realtor, so I speak to a lot of investors every day. I have a lot of real estate friends. Hopefully, we can get something going to bring more money into our town. We need money. You've got to need to build a house. You've got to need to live here. We have to do something to make it where people can build a house and get approved for whatever loan they need. Right now, there are a lot of houses that need fixed up and people to live in them. Rentals go fast. If our town can hold a free class or whatever it may be on credit, making sure people understand what to do in order to buy a home, but we have to have a reason for people to build houses. We have to bring jobs here. If there are no jobs here, people don't need to live here. People need jobs to build a house or buy a house here. Without the jobs, there's no reason for people to move here and live here," Rutenberg said. 

With the May primary approaching, Rutenberg is hopeful that people will vote for her. 

"I want to speak for the people. I want to get their thoughts and concerns out there and get them out there. I want people to see me for who I am and I have the people's best interest in mind," Rutenberg said.