By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

GREEN TWP. - Don and Katie Seifert worry this Hamilton County community they've called home since the 1960s has grown too congested with cars and big retailers at Rybolt Road and Harrison Avenue.

PROJECTED TURNOUTS

Here are Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's turnout projections for Tuesday's elections: Butler County: 207,668 registered voters, 40 percent turnout. Clermont County: 110,026 registered voters, 38 percent. Hamilton County: 531,374 registered voters, 42 percent Warren County: 105,040 registered voters, 36 percent.

ELECTION GUIDE

Election Guide 2003 Cincinnati.com provides an early look at the Nov. 4 vote with help on getting you registered, lists of area candidates and the latest campaign news. And there's more to come, including candidate profiles - as we get closer to Election Day.

"The sprawl just can't continue," Don Seifert, 64, told Green Township trustee candidate Bob Luckey Saturday as Luckey campaigned door-to-door. "We are losing too much green space."

Over on Monfort Heights Street, John Wickham watched his 6-year-old son Alec ride on a bicycle as he talked to Luckey about the issues on his mind. Too many cars routinely zoom down their tree-lined street that links to busy North Bend Road, Wickham, 31, explained.

"There is nowhere for the kids to be," Wickham said. "From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. it's a highway."

It's the final weekend of a very local campaign season and although turnout is traditionally light for local elections, there are some where interest - and intensity - are high.

From the 26 candidates for Cincinnati city council to the 11-candidate Fairfield council race to a four-way battle for a trustee spot in booming West Chester Township to a vote on the fate of tiny North Bend, there are places across Greater Cincinnati where every door represents a battleground.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell estimates a 36 percent voter turnout across the state. But Butler County may see a 40 percent turnout and Hamilton County, 42 percent, elections officials say.

Growth is driving Green Township's trustee race, where Luckey will battle two other candidates including a longtime incumbent for one open seat.

"If we have the potential to be built out within 11 years, someone needs to pay attention and look out for the future," Luckey told neighbors Saturday. "We are the envy of Hamilton County and I want to stay that way."

In North Bend, the future of the historic Ohio River town hinges on Tuesday, when voters will decide whether to dissolve the village of 603 to become a part of neighboring Miami Township to accommodate expensive new housing.

Many residents predict the measure will fail.

"It should not dissolve. I like the village. That's why I moved here," said Carolyn Bartley, the head secretary at Taylor High School. "If it's not broke, don't fix it."

"Nobody wants to see it happen," added Colin Upchurch, 74, as he sat on a yellow lawn chair Saturday in front of his Miami Avenue residence, sipping a beer and munching on potato chips.

"The bottom line is it's a pretty good village, and that's what we want it to stay."

In Butler County's West Chester Township, some residents and elected officials are taken aback at the fevered race for the open trustee seat and a park levy.

The incumbent, Dave Tacosik, has not been endorsed this time by the West Chester region of the Butler County Republican Party and some developers who backed him in 1999. Instead, they are backing his high-profile opponent, George Lang, who has been endorsed by everyone from the other two trustees to U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-West Chester) to one of the other candidates, Dan Wagner.

The township's park levy also has erupted into a controversy. The 1.95-mill levy is for $60 million in park and recreation improvements in about five years. It would cost the owner of a $200,000 home about $120 a year.

While two trustee candidates have rallied hard against the levy, some residents donned animal costumes, hitting streets with signs reading "Vote Yes for Parks."

Longtime West Chester resident Patty Thomas wore a green turtle costume five times last week to promote the park levy.

"I desperately hope that people get out and vote for this," Thomas, 37, said. "It will be the deciding factor in whether there is land preserved for the future generations. Once houses, parking lots and roads go up, there's no way to get the land back and all the little creatures that live there."

The races over in Fairfield are just as heated, with the highest number of council candidates in more than two decades - 11 for four seats.

The unusually high turnout was prompted by recent controversies, including $1.5 million in flood damages at homes over the summer and the new location for the justice center.

In Clermont County, a citizen revolt against sprawling development will peak Tuesday with votes on three referendums to either negate or uphold zoning changes by municipal leaders. Residents in Batavia Township and New Richmond have challenged proposed developments, which seek to add hundreds of homes.

In Delhi Township, some political newcomers, an Elvis impersonator and the Republican son of one of the county's best-known Democrats (Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes) are spicing up the trustee race.

For the full-term trustee spot, the incumbent who has been endorsed by the Republican Party for the past 24 years was snubbed this year.

Instead, the Delhi Township GOP endorsed a political neophyte and local automotive shopowner for the non-partisan seat.

In Delhi Township, many residents are concerned about revitalizing the business district to attract and keep more upscale businesses and sit-down restaurants. They also want walking/biking trails and other amenities for youth so they have something constructive to do. And, they worry that homes are not being kept up in some areas, hurting real estate values.

"In the last few years there are some homes that have become somewhat rundown and are eyesores," said Betty Welch-Tilley, a Realtor who lives and works in Delhi Township. "I think Delhi Township and the trustees need to address this. It affects the future of Delhi and people staying in Delhi."

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.