When Gahanna voters scan the ballot in May to choose a mayor, they’ll see three names that
should ring a few bells.
Incumbent Becky Stinchcomb is running against her predecessor, Jim McGregor, who left his post
in 2001 to serve as a Republican state representative, and Ryan Jolley, who was the district’s
youngest school board member when he was elected in 2001 at age 18.
McGregor, 62, said when residents asked him to run, he jumped at the opportunity to rein in
spending.
“There are a number of excesses in the city that can be pared back,” said McGregor, who was
mayor for 18 years. “We’re going to have to pull together and be a little frugal to get our
financial house in order.”
He said the city has hired too many employees since he left and didn’t adjust salaries when the
economy declined. He said he would cut some jobs and reduce pay, including the mayor’s $100,000
salary.
One of the primary targets of his criticism has been the city’s budget. He said current
administrators have twice approved budgets that call for spending more than the revenue
collected.
Stinchcomb, 55, said those budgets were prepared for worst-case situations and that the city
ended last year with $200,000 more in revenue than expenditures.
She said she’s being painted as an easy spender who will call for an income-tax increase if
re-elected.
Although officials have discussed increasing the income tax, Stinchcomb said there are no plans
to do so. She points to the city’s revenue last year and its $10 million in savings as evidence of
sound financial planning.
“We have more to do,” she said. “We’re in a tight financial situation, and I really think that
it’s going to need some consistent leadership.”
Jolley, who was elected to the Gahanna-Jefferson school board after graduating from Gahanna
Lincoln High School, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
The 28-year-old is a law student at Ohio State University. After serving on the school board
from 2001 through 2005, he moved to New York to teach math but has returned to Gahanna.
cbinkley@dispatch.com