NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville mayoral and auditor candidates gathered Oct. 14 to answer questions and address community concerns.
The League of Women Voters of Athens County held the event at the Nelsonville Public Library, 95 W. Washington St.
Each candidate had one minute for an opening statement, then took a seat at each of the four tables to answer questions from audience members. These discussions were limited to 15 minutes, before each candidate had to switch to another table.
Nelsonville City Auditor
In the race for city auditor, there are two candidates running: Write-in candidate and current auditor Nicholas Smith and Andrea Nicole Thompson-Hashman. One will be elected.
Nicholas Smith
In Smith’s opening statement, he said to the audience he has lived in Nelsonville for the last seven years. Smith said he has eight years of experience in nonprofit management and four years working within the tech industry.
“I spent an edifying year on Nelsonville City Council, and the reason I’m running for auditor is that my wife and I chose Nelsonville,” Smith said.
Smith said he grew up in Southeast Ohio, and when he and his wife were looking at places to raise a family, he considered a lot of different communities. He said they wanted a place where they could contribute, grow as people and help build something.
“We looked at a lot of different communities, and we picked Nelsonville because we saw something special. I’m here to just help continue building,” Smith said.
Smith said to the table he saw untapped potential in Nelsonville, especially in comparison to metropolitan areas in Southeast Ohio and communities that are off the beaten trail.
“You know, there’s so many opportunities. At the time when we moved, work from home was exploding and I thought, ‘Man, as a person who works from home, this is a great place to live,’” Smith said. “It’s affordable, there’s beautiful hiking, you can do your job anywhere, and so Nelsonville just checked all these boxes.”
Smith said to the table a big focus of his position would be establishing trust.
“I see … the core kind of spiritual work of auditors to establish and build trust that people can be confident,” Smith said. “Is the city going to do everything? No. Are there going to be mistakes? Yes, but at least there are good controls in place, processes in place, and people with integrity who are going to every day show up and try to do the right thing and that’s what I want to do.”
Smith said to the table he has received the public records retention training and has taken the Sunshine Law training in the past. He has also taken fiscal officer training, and a fiscal village officer training.
Smith has held his current position as auditor for a month and a half and is working on the budget for 2026.
“The financial fundamentals as of today are good, but we have risks coming around the corner,” Smith said. “I’m taking as conservative approach as I can to spend it because I’m nervous about how the next coming years are going to go.”
Andrea Nichole Thompson-Hashman
In Thompson-Hashman’s opening statement, she said she has been a lifelong resident of Nelsonville. She said she loves Nelsonville and wants to see prosperity come to the town. She said if she were elected, she would operate with an open door policy and invite anyone in who needs to discuss any issues. She said she promises to uphold the will of the people, especially those who voted in favor of Issue 23, which passed last year to abolish the city’s charter. The city council attempted to abolish the issue, but the matter is currently the subject of litigation.
Thompson-Hashman said to the table one of the big issues in Nelsonville recently is how public records requests are being handled.
“I’ve been out and about passing a petition for two weeks, so I’ve met a lot of people along the way. I want to make it so that if you need a record, we get that to you in a timely manner,” Thompson-Hashman said. “When I was Council Clerk, if somebody needed a copy of the minutes, needed a copy of an ordinance, I didn’t ask them to make a formal form.”
Thompson-Hashman said to the table she plans to make sure people do not have to jump through hoops to access records if elected as auditor.
She said to the table she has experience in bookkeeping and working with money in her current position at a Fortune 500 company. She said she plans on being careful with how the city spends its money, and she will make sure that every step is taken in compliance with the Ohio Revised Code.
Thompson-Hashman said to the Indy she has not undergone any training regarding public records retention or the Sunshine Law yet, but has signed up for the class and is very familiar with Sunshine Law.
Thompson-Hashman said she believes that Nelsonville can develop, but said the city will need to be cleaned up before it can happen.
“We’ve got a lot of vacant properties. We’ve got vacant property taxes that can be collected and put into the funds that they’re supposed to go in, thus increasing the revenue of the city,” Thompson-Hashman said. “Those properties include businesses in town. I would love to see new businesses. It’s pretty sad. I was driving down 33 last night, down by Taco Bell. It was completely dark. Those businesses were completely empty, and I really miss them.”
Records requested by the Independent show that Nelsonville records 88 vacant properties in the city.
Thompson-Hashman said to the table during her time as Council Clerk the 156.07 City Ordinance was passed, and currently it is not being enforced by the people who are in charge of enforcing it. However, Michelle Preece with the Nelsonville code office told the Independent that the city has enforced the ordinance to collect fees since
According to the ordinance, “The owner of a vacant building shall pay a fee of $100 with registration of a vacant property. For every consecutive year that the building remains vacant, an annual fee will be assessed at double the previous year’s fee for a maximum annual fee equaling the five-year fee of $1,600 to be used for the fifth and for all consecutive, subsequent years of vacancy.”’
Thompson-Hashman said to the table she is eager to apply the ordinance and revamp the city’s budget approach if she is elected.
Mayor of Nelsonville
In the Nelsonville Mayoral election, there are three candidates on the ballot: Jonathan R. Flowers, Fred Holmes and Nancy Sonick. One will be elected.
Sonick was unavailable for the roundtable forum event but spoke with the Independent about the race.
Fred Holmes
In his opening statement, Holmes said he has been a resident of Nelsonville since 2003.
Holmes served as the Nelsonville city manager from 2003 to 2006. He said to the audience, “Contrary to popular belief, I was not fired. I resigned. That’s the truth.”
He said to the audience he and his wife started two businesses in Nelsonville, Nelsonville Quilt Company and the Needles and Pines Retreat, that are both still operating today. He said the reason he wants to run for mayor is that after he came back hesitantly as interim city manager, he was impressed with the potential people have brought to the town.
“I think there’s a great opportunity here for new businesses. It’s coming. Growth is coming, and we need to get ready,” Holmes said.
Holmes has held the position of the interim city manager for Nelsonville since May.
He said to the table he has been working with the code officer to get vacant properties cleaned up and improve the appearance of Nelsonville.
“I can’t go out and make people come in. What I can do is make sure the infrastructure is correct, so that when people move in, the water lines have been replaced, and the sewer lines have been replaced,” Holmes said. “We have a new water plant and a new sewer plant that makes Nelsonville a desirable place to live.”
Holmes said to the table his biggest obstacle in attracting development has been negativity associated with the town.
“I’ve had to reach out to people and have connected with them and I’ve had groups purposely back away from Nelsonville because of all the drama. They don’t want to get caught up in it, so we’ve missed a lot of opportunity,” Holmes said. “We’re going out and I’m connecting with people. I’ve connected with groups that said no one from Nelsonville has ever reached out to them.”
Holmes said to the table getting rid of drama in the city is the real challenge.
Holmes said to the Indy he has not taken Sunshine Law training, but would be happy to take it.
In the League of Women Voters of Athens County Voter Guide, Holmes said, “All of us have different backgrounds, experiences, and needs. In order to move forward, we need everyone’s opinions, viewpoints, and ideas, whether we agree or disagree. It is important to agree, to disagree without attacking each other. That is the only way forward.”
Jonathan R. Flowers
In his opening statement, Flowers said he grew up in the east end of Nelsonville and lived there for 33 years before moving to San Antonio, Texas. Flowers said he lived in Texas for 30 years, and there wasn’t a day that he was not thinking about his hometown. He said he supports the 70% of voters that voted for Issue 23 last year.
Flowers said the code enforcement officer and the administrative assistant has put together a list of violations, such as the vacant property fees that haven’t been collected.
Flowers said after holding code enforcement meetings at Hocking College and speaking with the Southeastern Ohio Code Enforcement committee, there are agencies that can be utilized to correct code violations. He said he does not want to bring a fine against people, but to have the codes be taken care of.
Flowers said to the table that people who love this city and are in a building that has code violations are not people he wants to go against.
“When I had my band going, we raised $26,000 for the Nelsonville Food Cupboard. I love Nelsonville, and those people are not going to be targeted, but we’re going to get the worst of them and figure it out,” Flowers said. “You can sell the property to somebody who will fix it up, or you can fix it up, because you can’t blame the renters.”
“No one wants to make money on code enforcement. That’s not the problem. That’s not what I was told. The process of this is to fix your property up. It’s to encourage people,” Flowers said. “If you get a speeding ticket, it encourages you to slow down because you got a $120 speeding ticket, so it’s the same thing with that. You’re going to have to feel a little pain. If you can’t afford it, we have other agencies that can help them out.”
Flowers said to the table the last thing in the world he would ever do is kick someone out of their house because they couldn’t pay a fine. He said in the case of someone not being able to pay, the city will find somebody to help.
Flowers said to the table he supports returning parking meters to Nelsonville.
He said to the table he would like police to get out of their cars more and build connections with their community to cut back on crime. He said people within the community would be more likely to report about crime if they have trust in officers.
Flowers said to the Indy he has not had any previous training with public records retention or Sunshine Law, but he will pursue trainings.
Flowers said to the table his previous experience as a business owner would help him promote the city of Nelsonville.
In the League of Women Voters of Athens County Voter Guide, Flowers said, “I’ve been self-employed most of my life, so I had to self promote myself. That’s what I want to do for the city is promote Nelsonville and erase some of the negativity that we have received in the last few years.”
Nancy Sonick
Sonick told the Independent she has not actively campaigned for the position and does not expect to win.
“I just hope that people in Nelsonville understand that whoever they vote for from there should do more than shake hands, kiss babies and cut ribbons,” Sonick said, emphasizing the mayor’s would-be role in selecting the city chief of police, a position currently held by Devon Tolliver.
“I just hope that things will work out for everybody,” Sonick added.
If she were elected, Sonick said her priority would be to “try to bring some business back into Nelsonville.” Sonick also referenced the importance of the city code office.
“We’ve got to get a handle on those who are renting homes, because a lot of homes just sit there and nothing is done with them,” Sonick said.
Sonick said she was born and raised in Nelsonville, left when she was 17, and returned four years ago. She has since served as the clerk of council and as the council vice president, a position from which she resigned in July.
More information
Early voting is currently underway. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Find more information about voting in the 2025 general election from the Athens County Board of Elections.
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