WHY LISA?
Lisa's Recent Accomplishments
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Voted NO on high density developments, and worked to ensure responsible development.
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Currently fighting a proposed gas station and other inappropriate commercial development at South Old State and Lewis Center Road.
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Put a moratorium on the Big Developer-sponsored zoning plan approved in 2020 by the prior trustees, which has resulted in hundreds of high-density (but expensive) residential units, yet another gas station, and industrial developments located directly adjacent to our residents.
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Spearheaded new tornado sirens so Orange Township will have complete coverage for the first time in our history.
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Fought to increase transparency and accountability, and to regain fiscal oversight over taxpayer money, and held the line on levy asks.
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Helped design the new North Road Park and playground, which includes accessible features.
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Listened to residents' concerns and initiated changes to our traffic and parking regulations.
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Implemented new economic development tools to generate additional revenue for Orange Township.
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With public input, planning improvements to our safety/fire response to our residents with a replacement fire station.
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Prevented the ill-advised proposal to rezone all township properties, which would have disrupted our residents daily lives.
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Spearheaded the reduction of unreasonable fees for block/end of school year parties for our residents.
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Helped create a plan to resurface more of our aging roads each year.
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Initiated the re-opening of Township Hall for rental by our residents, who own the building.
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Worked with a local group to initiate signage at our historic Williamsville Cemetery for the very first time.
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Initiated our EMS billing plan, resulting in millions of dollars for our fire department.
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Helped implement features at our parks so that persons with a disability can enjoy them.
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Upon a group of residents' request, initiated the disc golf course at township hall.
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And so much more.
✔️Keep Orange Township Thriving! Re-Elect Lisa Knapp!
Experience Matters.
Lisa Knapp has been heavily involved in her community since 1998! She has the most township experience of nearly any trustee in the entire county. Her unique strength is 27 years of unparalleled, in-depth township experience with township finances and operations, built over many years.
Lisa has attended over 2,500 township meetings, and has the greatest understanding of township finances of any current trustee. In fact, she used that experience to single-handedly bring shady, decade-long financial situations to public light and to put a stop to them.
High density single-family developments necessitate more schools and additional tax levies. Lisa has worked hard to limit the density of single-family developments and has also focused on senior housing, which means fewer schools, saving residents their hard earned money. She encourages elected officials and administrators in other local governments to do the same.
Lisa is experienced in all departments: township finances and operations are unique and complex.
Your elected officials working together for YOU!!
Campaign Promises Kept
Why Lisa first ran for trustee. Over the last few years of her 1 year employment with Orange Township, Lisa realized there was a need for better service to our residents, employees who are invested in our community, financial oversight and transparency. She noticed issues like invoices being paid without proper documentation, parks not being maintained properly, infighting between elected officials and between employees, and many more issues. She ran for office in November 2011 to make a difference in her community, and she won.
Proven Results. The last four years have been a time of peace and calm at Township Hall. During her first 8 years as a trustee, Lisa worked relentlessly to successfully overcome the dysfunction. She, with the help of Team Orange, helped put Orange Township on the right track, with officials working together as a team to move forward. Projects are completed, costs are reviewed, financial forecasts are prepared, legal fees were greatly reduced, and new management was hired to continue this progress. She opened numerous new parks, including North Road Park and playground, which she helped design, trails, and the connector to Highbanks.
Real Savings You Can See
Lisa has worked hard to protect your money and she can prove it! Just a few examples:
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In her first and second terms, reduced legal fees an average of 17% each year for 8 years.
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Implemented EMS billing, bringing in over $350K annually.
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Reduced fire levy, saving millions of dollars.
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Eliminated $150k per year contractor who submitted over $2 million of invoices with little to no documentation, approved by the former trustees & fiscal officer.
Lisa Knapp: Fighting corruption, unrelenting on her mission to achieve financial transparency.
Financial oversight at Orange Township began to degrade in 2009. Despite legal requirements, management (the trustees) stopped receiving bank and investment statements from the fiscal officer. Account reconciliations took months to complete and were provided sporadically, usually when there were no discrepancies. The trustees in office at the time just didn't care.
In 2012 when Lisa took office, she immediately began asking questions about township finances, including negative balances, "missing" funds, millions of dollars in voids, questionable payments, lack of documentation, etc. She was the only trustee at the time of three who was concerned about this, and as a result was met with continuous resistance from the former fiscal officer and the other two trustees, and she was refused all of her financial requests.
Lisa's concerns were soon proven to be accurate when, among several incidents, the longtime zoning inspector was found to have been stealing cash, and pleaded guilty to theft in office. He was also found to be a cocaine dealer who had spent years in federal prison. He was able to steal because receipts were handwritten and able to be manipulated.
Lisa never gave up and she continued to demand financial oversight, bringing her concerns to the public. Due to her unrelenting desire to obtain fiscal transparency, the township now receives bank and investment statements, and all transactions are required to have documentation. Knapp continues to ask financial questions and carefully reviews every transaction and verifies information with the bank. And she will continue to do so.
Let's keep the positivity going at township hall!
The current elected officials work together well, and they can disagree without being disagreeable. But it wasn't always that way, as the Township went through several years of strife due to a lack of fiscal transparency and growing pains, from 2006-2017. From 2018- 2019, Orange Township was finally headed in the right direction; township hall was calm, trustee meetings were friendly and cooperative, & employees were dedicated to residents. However, a new trustee was elected after developers helped fund his nearly $60,000 campaign, and Lisa was out of office for 2 years.
Unfortunately, within just a few days of the new trustee taking office in 2020, the turmoil and firings began. Within just a few months, all departments heads but one & our long-time legal counsel were fired & the township devolved into chaos once again over the past two years. Lawsuits were filed, and settlements were paid out using taxpayer money. Read about some of it here in these Dispatch articles (click on links):
The current elected officials get along very well. Electing new, unproven trustees without experience every few years is what has led to many of the township's problems. To continue to move forward, it’s imperative that Orange Township continue with their currently elected and experienced trustees who will help continue the civil, balanced dynamic of the Board and staff at township hall.
Vote for Lisa Knapp!