MILLBURY — The Lake Township fiscal officer has announced he will run for trustee in November’s election.

“I made this decision because I want to further use my skills to continue to strive to improve our township, working together with other elected officials,” Buddy Ritson said in a Wednesday press release.

“As I had a big vision for the fiscal office, I have an even bigger vision of what we can achieve when I’m elected Lake Township trustee. When elected, I will have regular community outreach events to hear residents’ concerns and update them what is currently happening in the township.”

Ritson also pledged to focus on expanding the township’s Joint Economic Development District.

“And I look forward to working with everyone in this community to further improve our parks,” he said.

In his three years as fiscal officer, Ritson said that he has have been able to improved transparency by registering all of the township’s financial data with Ohio Checkbook and providing access to meeting minutes and monthly financials by uploading them to the new township website.

“In addition, I’ve worked hard to save the township money by negotiating with our bank for better interest rates on the checking account and investments, bringing in over $80,000 more annually in interest being accumulated from township tax dollars,” Ritson said.

“Plus, we have been able to cut costs by negotiating better terms on our property insurance and employee insurance plans. Furthermore, we were able to convert 70% of our payments to ACH, which saved even more tax dollars and alleviated mail issues that began during the pandemic.”