By Greg Ellison

(July 2, 2020) The OPA Board of Directors continued to set the stage for the 2020 board election following final review of ballot materials last Friday.

Elections Committee Chairman Steve Habeger said the group met on June 26 with Berlin-based Ace Printing owner Thom Guylas to examine mailing materials for last second edits.

“We reviewed the drafts of six products that we need to move forward to go to mailing in early July,” he said. “Just like any review process, we caught a typo or two.”

Other minutiae discovered included document spacing issues.

“It really helped to have a lot of peoples’ eyes,” he said. “Everybody saw different things and that’s the whole point of group review.”

The slate of 2020 OPA board candidates vying for a pair of open seats includes incumbents Doug Parks and Dr. Colette Horn, along with newcomer Stuart Lakernick, who is married to former board member Esther Dill.

Habeger noted the Election Committee is accelerating to maximum speed as its peak season begins.

“We’ve got to produce documents [and] our objective is to get everything mailed by the week of July 6,” he said.

OPA election procedures aim to provide residents eligible to vote 30 days to examine ballots prior to the submission deadline of Aug. 5 by 5 p.m.

Habeger said the drop date for Ace Printing to produce materials is July 3.

“We’re trying to be fair to the printer,” he said.

“He’s very capable, but you’ve got to be fair and give him a chance to do what he needs to do.”

Habeger said prior to the meeting on Friday, Ace Printing produced outgoing and return envelopes that had been previously approved.

Speaking on Friday after the committee meeting, Habeger said ballots would be in final form within days.

“The other documents that have a little more beef to them in the next few workdays, I hope to have them finalized,” he said.

Habeger said the final vetting of election materials was performed with relative ease based on history with Guylas and Ace Printing, who participate in an annual competitive bid process.

“They have been the low bidder with quality product for a number of years,” he said.

Habeger said pines residents should anticipate receiving slightly upgraded ballots this month.

“We think it’s an improvement [and] there will be a color photo of each candidate,” he said. “It’s a little bit larger that the old Scranton ballot but it’s made to fit right in the return envelope.”