William Owens wins in stunning fashion

There was one huge upset and many expected winners in the Nov. 8, 1972 general election. The shocker was the prosecutor race won by relative newcomer William Owens. He was pitted against a five-term incumbent in Bernard Freeman and won handily 9,147 votes as compared to his opponent's 7,323. Huron County Sheriff John Borgia had no trouble staying in office, turning back New London police sergeant Loren Welch by a three-to-one margin. In other county races, incumbent commissioners Arthur Herner and Donald Robertson had no trouble staying in office. Republican John Arthur was elected county treasurer while another Republican, Clark Hunter, defeated Democrat Kenneth Kirk for clerk of courts. The race for treasurer was quite controversial if for no other reason than it pitted a male, former banker in John Arthur against a female, Democrat Shirley Brown, a virtual unknown but one who made it known there were far too many relatives working in the courthouse. She promised, if elected, she would not hire a member of her family. Herner had to beat two candidates, Democrat Max Van Allen and Independent Robert Timman, while Robertson also had two opponents, Democrat Clayton Bick and independent Ralph Walcher. Commissioners earn $6,480 annually and meet two days a week but must be available for special meetings. Owens was shocked at the amount of votes he received. He sat down with his campaign manager, Clerk of Courts candidate Ken Kirk, the night before and wondered if they had done enough to win the battle against a name that had been front and center in the Republican party for two decades. Freeman was, at the time, the chairman of the county Republican party. The township votes would make a huge difference in the final count. Owens carried the rural areas by almost a thousand votes. For Borgia, a winner by some 8,000 votes, it would be his fourth term. He would be out-done as far as terms by only Herner, who was starting his fifth. In the city races, Wayne Goodsite became the first full-time mayor in the city of Norwalk. Campaigning very little, the 47-year-old real estate salesman won all 12 precincts in topping another city employee, Charles Sweet, businessman Melvin Robinson, and a 18-year-old in Edward Strobel. Goodsite takes office under the city's new charter system of government. He will be making $15,000 a year and claimed his real estate sign will come down. There will be two new faces on city council. Bill Robinson, who spent election night in the hospital battling pneumonia, won as did Robert Markel. Other winners in council races were Lawrence Bresson, Melvin Shipley and Richard Sipple. Despite the youth vote (11,000 citizens under 21 were registered), the vote count was the lowest since the Stevenson-Eisenhower presidential race in 1956. The reason given — an all-day rain. Same administrators Mayor Wayne Goodsite is staying with his top three administrators. Auditor Doug Colvin will become the city's first full-time finance director. The same holds true for service director where Herb Krogh will remain in the office across the hall from the mayor. Both Colvin and Krogh will earn $14,500. Present solicitor, Ronald Freeman, will continue part-time only with a new title, law director. He will earn $6,000. The rest of the city team will also remain the same, James Widman as the city engineer, Charles Sweet as the waste water treatment head, Elmer McGuckin (fire) and Larry Hilson (police) chiefs, Henry Schaper (water filtration), Walter Wise (public works) and Lenna Finch (office manager). Opper defends housing Contractor Richard Opper is fed up with the nasty remarks from people who think little of his low-cost housing projects. Detractors have even gone so far as calling the Ohio State Highway Patrol to complain about Opper's trucks dragging mud out onto the road. "You name it, they complain about it," Opper said. "From the quality of lumber I use to the possible county health board violations." Opper continued, "After three inspections, the first after the footers and slabs are poured, the second after plumbing, wiring and framing is completed, and the third upon completion of the house, federal inspectors claim I am giving the people more for their money than anyone else in the program in the state." Opper did half-a-million worth of housing last year, 19 homes to be exact. He has 20 more on the drawing board this coming year. "We have homes under contract for people making $4,500 a year," he said. "They have their choice, let me build a government-program home or they can move into a house trailer. Their choice is obvious. And, they are not complaining. They own their home." Potts kicking well Wichita State University has a valuable weapon, one that helped propel the Shockers to a "shocking" 4-4-1 record. The weapon is former St. Paul kicker John Potts. Potts, a junior, who kicked four of eight field goals last year and had three as a freshman, pumped through a 35-yarder with 58 seconds left two weeks ago to give his team a 20-17 win over Cincinnati. A week before that, he kicked the first nine points of the game as the Shockers topped North Texas State, 23-6. The Wichita State win streak started in Week 2 when Potts kicked two field goals and the defense made those six points stand up in a 6-0 win over Arkansas State. He has missed three times this year, from 44, 37 and 42. Potts, coached by former Sandusky Coach Bob Seaman, is following in the footsteps of his brother, George, who was an excellent kicker for Xavier. George was good enough to earn a try-out with the Dallas Cowboys. Scoreless tie The mud was the factor. On a dry field, Edison would have probably won the football game by four touchdowns. But, when Charger quarterback Gene Fernandez could not grip the football because the field was ankle deep in mud, Edison could not push across a point and ended up in a scoreless tie on Homecoming afternoon at Mapleton. The tie made New London the 1972 Firelands Conference champion. Edison, playing without valuable runner Dan Pritt most of the game because of a leg injury, never got inside the Mapleton 25. Mapleton got inside the Edison 25 only once. The smallest player on the field, 5-6, 128 pound Phil Murtaugh, was the star of the game for the host team as he personally stopped three Edison drives in the final quarter — two with key tackles and the third with an interception. Don Hohler is a longtime reporter and correspondent for the Norwalk Reflector.