ANDERSON TWP. - Thomas Luttmer is drawing fire from a firefighters union over signs he is using for his third attempt to be elected a township trustee in this eastern Hamilton County suburb.

The Anderson Township Professional Firefighters Local 3111 believes Luttmer is trying to confuse voters because his campaign signs say "sponsored by local firefighters."

"We didn't endorse him," said union president Bill Tillett. "We endorsed his opponent (incumbent Trustee Russ Jackson)."

Luttmer, however, said he is in no way implying he has the support of the union.

Rather, the former volunteer firefighter said, he is supported by current or retired firefighters who live in the township. "Some of them live here, but don't necessarily work in the township," he said.

Tillett said the union represents Anderson's 65 firefighters, who by majority vote unanimously endorsed Jackson.

Luttmer questioned whether that vote is valid.

"They didn't even have an open candidates' night.

"I always thought that in order to have an informed vote you'd have to interview candidates ... but that didn't happen here," he said.

Tillett called Luttmer's comments "ludicrous."

Complaint pursued

SYMMES TWP. - Incumbent candidate Eric Minamyer doesn't intend to let complaints about his challenger slide, even though the Ohio Elections Commission ruled last week that there's no proof Michael Howell intentionally misled voters in his battle to unseat Minamyer as a trustee.

The commission rejected Minamyer's allegations that Howell lied on a League of Women Voters Web site, by saying he had endorsements from three of five former trustees, and that he was currently serving on the township's law and safety committee.

The committee was disbanded shortly after Howell made his last bid for trustee in 2001.

Howell said that he just forgot to change information he posted to the Web site during his last race. He has since corrected the League's Web site.

But, he refuses to budge on his claim of support from former office holders - two Republicans and a Democrat - even though that information also is dated. Howell said he obtained their support during the 2001 campaign.

"(It) was something that I assumed would have carried on over the years. It wasn't something I had to go back and ask them again," Howell said, refusing to identify the trustees.

"There are people that did not want to go public. One of them signed my petition for candidacy two years ago, which I took as an endorsement. Another was a private conversation. He actually urged me to run two years ago."

Minamyer says he is refiling his complaint, along with affidavits from former trustees James Buckman, Michael Burroughs and Michael Gentry that they never gave their support to Howell.

"The idea that he would keep doing this despite the fact that it's not true, is something that needs to be pursued," Minamyer said.

"If there is going to be honesty in elections, and the legislature has passed a law saying you're not allowed to do this, letting him off the hook just because you beat him doesn't make sense to me."

If the election board takes up Minamyer's second complaint - and if Minamyer prevails - Howell faces up to six months in jail and a maximum $5,000 fine.

Whatever happens, don't expect to see Howell's name on future ballots.

"This has pretty much cured me of running for election again," he said.

One drops out

FAIRFIELD - And then there were 11.

Fairfield City Council candidate Ray McDaniel has bowed out of the race, citing a need to spend more time with his family.

That leaves 11 candidates vying for four open council seats in the Nov. 4 election, the most crowded Fairfield race in more than two decades.

And now there are just three hopefuls competing in the Third Ward, which runs east of Ohio 127 to Gilmore Road and has suffered the brunt of the city's flooding.

Keith Davis, Debbie Pennington and Mitch Rhodus are the remaining candidates in that ward.

Shelling out the bucks

HAMILTON - Being elected to public office is so important to some candidates that they risk a good-sized chunk of their own money on their campaigns.

A Hamilton city council member earns $300 a year. But that didn't stop incumbent George McNally from borrowing $4,000 to help finance his re-election campaign.

He has raised $3,665 in contributions. So far, he has spent $7,501.

McNally, a former Hamilton mayor and police chief, has served on council for 18 years.

George Lang, who is running for West Township trustee, borrowed $5,000 from the campaign committee of Butler County Treasurer Kay Rogers and put up $2,500 of his own money.

He has raised almost $18,000 in contributions and has spent more than $17,000 so far, according to the campaign finance report he filed with the Butler County Board of Elections. He has enough to pay back the $5,000 from the Rogers campaign committee.

If he's elected, his trustee's salary would be $11,706 a year.

This is the first time he's run for public office. Lang, who is a member of the Butler County Republican Party's central committee, said the trustee's salary - less than half of what he has raised in campaign contributions so far - isn't his motivation for seeking office.

"This country's been good to me," he said. "This is my way of giving back."

'Smart growth' endorsements

CROSBY TWP. - A "smart growth" group in western Hamilton County this week released its endorsements for candidates in November's local elections.

Concerned Citizens of Western Hamilton County, a grassroots organization that intends to preserve the region's semi-rural character through land-use planning, threw its support behind the following candidates:

 Warren E. Strunk as Crosby Township trustee

 Ron Kruse and Nicholas LaScalea as Delhi Township trustees

 Ken Brodbeck and Bob Luckey as Green Township trustees

 Michael H. Bolte and Thomas C. Losekamp as Harrison Township trustees

 Jim Rolfes as mayor and Frances R. Romweber as council member for the village of North Bend

 Hubert E. Brown as Whitewater Township trustee.

The group also came out against Issue 8 on the ballot, which would dissolve the Village of North Bend to become part of Miami Township.

Suburban Insider is compiled by reporter Jennifer Edwards with contributions this week from Marie McCain, Sheila McLaughlin, Reid Forgrave and Steve Kemme..