Village Council

 


Council Meetings ONLINE CLICK HERE

GRAFTON VILLAGE WARD MAP

WARD 1 MAP

WARD 2 MAP

WARD 3 MAP

WARD 4 MAP

 

Schedule of Monthly Meetings

Council Meetings: 1st and 3rd Tuesday of month 7:30 PM unless otherwise noted.  Planning Commission and or Board of Zoning Appeal meet 3rd Tuesday when scheduled.

NAVIGATION MADE EASY:  A link is attached to the email address of each Council members name beneath their photo’s, or simply click their name here to email:
  Matthew Dukles – Tim Strah – Patrick McCort –   Lynette Kitts –  Elizabeth (Liz) Sauer

Council Members

 

 

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GRAFTON COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Matthew Dukles
WARD 1 MAP

 

Matthew (‘Matt’) Dukles is currently serving in his fourth 4-year term on Village Council being first elected to office in 2009 and reelected in 2013. 2017 and 2021, representing all the residents of Ward 1.  Councilman Dukles current 4-year term runs through December 31, 2025.
 On March 12, 2019, Councilman Dukles was unanimously selected by his peers to serve as COUNCIL PRESIDENT.
 Matt is a long-time Grafton business owner and proponent of downtown business sustainability and community reinvestment.  With that, Councilman Dukles has supported and encourage infrastructure reinvestment and revitalization projects throughout Grafton.  Additionally, Councilman Dukles has taken up the cause for re-purposing equipment and decommissioned assets of the Village no longer utilized by Village departments, listing the assets for public auction, primarily on GovDeal (a governmental auction site).  Matt’s efforts in this program has returned more than $200,000.00 to the Village General Fund and various departments over the past eight and a half years.

 

 

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Tim Strah

 

GRAFTON VILLAGE WARD MAP

Council-at-Large
Councilman Tim Strah is currently serving in his second term on Village Council.  Councilman Strah was first appointed to the position of Grafton Village Council-at Large October 16, 2018 then retained by Grafton electorate in the November 2nd general election.  Councilman Strah current 4-year term runs through December 31, 2025.
For the past 38 years Tim and his wife Darla have called Grafton home.  They raised 3 children and are active in the community.  Tim has served Grafton as a Volunteer Fireman.  Tim is an active member of Our Lady Queen of Peace serving on the finance council and is involved with the Helping Hands Ministry.  Tim has recently served on the Mayor’s 2018 Charter Review Commission.  Tim hopes that his work knowledge and experience as a Lead Maintenance Mechanic will provide insight that will be beneficial to the Village.
Councilman Strah stated, “I see my efforts here on the Village Council as a continuation of my love for Grafton through community service.”
Councilman Strah’s platform for his first term to council:
  • Assure the Village of Grafton remains fiscally responsible to its residents.
  • Continue strategic efforts regarding an aging infrastructure and the projects that are designed to address all infrastructure needs.
  • Seek way to improve the Village Parks and Recreation.
  • Support economic development programs and opportunities benefiting Grafton.
  • Continue a legacy of community volunteerism through public service.

Councilman Strah’s current term runs through December 2025.

 

 

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Patrick McCort

WARD 3 MAP

patrickmccort@yahoo.com 
Councilman Patrick McCort was appointed to council in April 2023, to complete the unexpired term of the Rick Logue (deceased 12/2022). Councilman McCort is a 46-year resident of Grafton who grew up in North Eaton and moved into the Village in 1977, he currently resides at 1177 Elm St.  Councilman McCort is a 1969 graduate of Midview High School, is currently retired following a 47-year career with the Invacare Corporation.  Councilman McCort was elected to represent Grafton WARD 3 on November 7, 2023 and sworn into office on January 2, 2024 before Grafton Village Council, family, friends and supporters.  Councilman McCort’s current term runs through December 31, 2027.
 

 

ALL GRAFTON Ward-Maps_Grafton

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Lynette Kitts
WARD 4 MAP

 

 

Lynette Kitts is serving in her third term on Village Council being first elected to office in 2015 representing the residents of Ward 4 and reelected to a second 4-year term November 5, 2019, reelected to a third term on November 7, 2023.  Councilwoman’s Kitts current term runs through December 2027.
 
Many know Councilperson Kitts simply as “Lynette”, who has faithfully delivered their mail here in Grafton while working for the United States Postal Service for the past 26-years.  Lynette championed the funding of the “downtown beautification floral program” in 2017 where she worked personally with a local manufacture to design brackets that would attach to the existing ornamental light polls and worked with a local grower to design the flower arrangements all enjoyed in 2017.  Because of her efforts in 2017, the “downtown beautification floral program” continues to this day.
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Elizabeth (Liz) Sauer
WARD 2 MAP

 

 

Elizabeth (Liz) Sauer is currently serving in her third 4-year term on Village Council being first elected to office in 2013 and reelected in 2017 and 2021, representing the residents of Ward 2.  Councilwoman Sauer current 4-year term runs through December 31, 2025.
 
Liz is and remains an active member in the Grafton community, recently serving as council’s representative to the 2017 Bicentennial Committee.  Liz played a pivotal part in many Bicentennial events including the development of Bicentennial Park at the corner of Main St and Mechanic St.  When grant-funding for the development was unsuccessful, Councilperson Sauer lead the effort to create and manage village funding for the park development.  Her efforts with the support of her colleagues on Council, provided funding allocations that not only supported funding for Bicentennial Park, it allowed the administration to design and complete the project on-time and at less than 50% of engineering’s original cost-to-construct estimate.  Bicentennial Park was dedicated on July 1, 2017.

 

 

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Village of Grafton – Charter

ARTICLE IV
THE COUNCIL

Section 4.  Duties of Council

All legislative powers of the Municipality, except as limited by this Charter and the Constitution of the State of Ohio, shall be vested in the Council, and in furtherance thereof, but without limitation thereto, it shall:

(a)   Originate, introduce and pass ordinances and adopt resolutions;

(b)   Fix the salaries of all officers and employees of the Municipality, whether elected or appointed;

(c)   Require and fix bond for the faithful discharge of the duties of office by officers and employees, the premium for which bond may be ordered by the Council to be paid by the Municipality;

(d)   Formulate and adopt a budget;

(e)   Provide for a bi-annual financial audit by the State;

(f)   Authorize the issuance of bonds under the laws of the State of Ohio;

(g)   Perform such other duties and exercise such other rights not inconsistent with this Charter as now or hereafter granted to the legislative authority of municipalities by the State of Ohio.

(Amended 11-6-84)

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Stephanie Barnhart
Clerk-Treasurer
Stephanie Barnhart is serving in her first term as Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Grafton.  Stephanie is a life long Grafton resident and the daughter of Jim and Amy Barnhart.  Stephanie is following in the foot-steps of her mother and former Clerk Treasurer Amy B.   Mrs. Barnhart. Stephanie’s current term runs through December 31, 2027.
The Clerk-Treasurer position bears several primary and secondary responsibilities including managing municipal finances, public records, managing employee benefits and budget funding management to mention a few. Stephanie serves along side the Village Administration and is actively involved with the Administrations contract negotiations and plays a vital role establishing project funding and project financing on all public-works projects.

 

Village of Grafton – Charter

ARTICLE V
THE CLERK-TREASURER

Section 2.  Duties

The Clerk-Treasurer is the fiscal officer of the Municipality, the Clerk of the Municipality and the Clerk of the Council.

Specifically, his or her duties are to:

(a)   Demand and receive from the County Treasurer taxes, levies and assessments made and certified to the County Auditor by the Council and placed on the tax list by such Auditor for collection. He or she shall also demand and receive moneys from persons authorized to collect or required to pay them from judgments, fines, penalties, forfeitures, licenses, court costs and debts due the Municipality;

(b)   Disburse the funds of the Municipality on the order of the Council;

(c)   Keep an accurate account of all moneys received by him or her, showing the amount thereof, the time received, from whom and on what account received;

(d)   Keep an accurate account of all disbursements made by him or her, showing the amount thereof, the time made, to whom and on what account paid;

(e)   So arrange his or her books that the amounts received and paid on account of separate funds or specified apportionments shall be exhibited in separate accounts;

(f)   Settle and account with the Council at such regular intervals as may be required by the Council. At the first regular meeting of the Council in January in each year, the Clerk-Treasurer shall report to the Council the condition of the finances of the Municipality, the amount received by him or her, the sources of such receipts, the disbursements made by him or her and on what account during the year preceding. Such account shall exhibit the balance of each fund in his or her hands at the end of the year.

(g)   Attend all meetings of Council and keep the official record of all proceedings, rules, by-laws, resolutions and ordinances passed or adopted; and

   (h)   Perform such other duties as are required by any ordinance of the Municipality consistent with his or her office.

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