Green Oakwood posed the same six sustainability focused questions to our City Council candidates. We are posting the Questions and Answers, verbatim from our candidates, so you may get to know their knowledge, experience and positions on topics that may be important to you, your family, and our community.
Question #1: What experience or actions have you taken related to environmental stewardship?
Answer from Candidate Sam Dorf
My wife founded Green Oakwood in 2017 with the hope of making a positive impact on our current and future environment. Together we held the first organizational Green Oakwood meetings at our house, showed up at City Council meetings to advocate for sustainability initiatives, brought Metroparks to the OCC to educate residents about home composting, worked with city partners and local businesses on implementing green initiatives (i.e. reducing single-use plastics) and hosted informational tables at the Oakwood Farmers Market, That Day in May and the Ice-Cream Social. Our former Oakwood home had solar panels, a rain barrel, and (my favorite part) a community side garden with produce free to neighbors who stopped by (the strawberries and blackberries were delicious). We are still getting settled at our new Oakwood home, but hope for solar panels soon!
Answer from Candidate Sarena Kelley
Environmental stewardship has been a defining thread throughout my life. I:
- Studied permaculture in the Australian Outback with the Arid Lands Environment Centre and served as secretary of the Alice Springs Community Garden.
- Have worked for years as a landscape designer focused on native, pesticide-free design, always putting ecological health first.
- Restore historic homes using green materials, preservation methods, and zero-waste goals, ensuring that old buildings can be future-proofed without contributing to landfill waste.
- Serve on the Oakwood Beautification Committee and several Garden Club of Dayton committees, helping organize educational and fundraising efforts that support greening underserved communities and historic preservation.
Answer from Candidate Leigh Turben
During my term on City Council, I encouraged, supported and celebrated numerous sustainability initiatives, including:
- The establishment of the Recycling Center;
- The purchase of the first all-electric police vehicle in the county;
- Installation of an electric vehicle charging station in the Orchard Drive parking lot;
- The repair and maintenance of City sidewalks, for a more walkable community;
- The inclusion of the dedicated bike lanes on Shroyer, as part of the Shroyer Road Capital Improvement Program;
- The addition of native trees in the Johnny Appleseed Program;
- The conversion to LED street lights for energy efficiency, while providing proper illumination on residential streets;
- The updating of our City Landscape Management Code, Chapter 551 of our Codified Ordinances, incorporating new provisions to authorize the establishment of managed natural landscape areas.
- On a personal level, my husband and I actively incorporate sustainable practices into our daily lives, such as:
- Composting food scraps and lawn clippings, reducing waste while enriching the soil for future gardening;
- Eliminating single-use containers in the kitchen, opting for glass—I even wash and reuse plastic bags minimizing our reliance on disposable items;
- Growing our own tomatoes and herbs, reducing our carbon footprint by sourcing fresh produce right from my garden;
- Shopping at Oakwood Farmer’s Market, supporting local farmers while enjoying organic produce;
- Consistently practicing the principals of reusing, reducing and recycling, thus ensuring that we minimize waste and make the most of our resources available to us.