Medina village government needs new model, stronger partnerships to survive
Editor:
I am Dean Bellack, a 42-year resident of this community and a business owner who spent decades operating in a highly competitive environment where partnerships were not optional — they were survival.
If people didn’t come together, I didn’t eat. That experience shaped how I think, how I work, and how I solve problems. With all respect to the others in this race, that background sets me apart.
I am running for Village Trustee because we cannot continue operating the way we have been. You may disagree with many things in this village — and that’s healthy — but I challenge anyone to disagree with this:
We live in a politically insignificant area, in a state that is crushing us with costs, and our residents cannot continue absorbing tax increases year after year.
Those are facts. And facts require action.
The only way to change the curve is to change how we do business. We cannot keep thinking like a village of 6,000 people trying to solve 21st century problems alone. We must build partnerships — with our towns, our county, our nonprofits, our schools, and our neighboring communities. We must expand our grant efforts dramatically. And we must stop treating collaboration as optional.
My public history shows these results in action.
When I started at the YMCA, the organization was broke, the roof was leaking, and we were dealing with the aftermath of a financial scandal. We were one small, isolated branch with no path forward. We came together, completely remodeled the building, and spent two years working toward a merger with the GLOW YMCA. That merger created stability, doubled revenue, and built an endowment that now funds repairs and long term needs. The YMCA is strong today because we changed the model.
When I volunteered to lead the United Way, we were broke and struggling with trust issues. We rebuilt that organization from the ground up — shifting from a small fundraising group to one that wrote grants for nonprofits, secured county contracts, and achieved financial stability. We created an endowment, restored credibility, and then made the bold decision to drop the United Way model entirely and reform as Orleans Community Connects. Today, OCC is positioned to add asset building roles across the county and bring in resources that individual organizations could never secure alone.
These are not theories. These are results — built through partnerships, planning, and a willingness to change how things are done.
I am for services. I am for a strong, functioning village. But the only way to protect services without breaking taxpayers is to change the model.
If you want to know how I will operate as Trustee, it is simple:
- My votes will support partnerships that reduce costs and increase capacity.
- My direction will push for greatly expanded grant proposals and shared applications.
- My decisions will focus on what is necessary, not what is easy or familiar.
I have lived here for 42 years. I have invested hard in assets here. I owned 43 rental units and improved each. I have built businesses here. I have served this community in multiple roles. And I believe deeply that Medina can thrive — but only if we stop pretending that doing things the same way will produce different results.
It is time to think differently, work differently, and lead differently.
Respectfully,
Dean Bellack
Candidate for Medina Village Trustee
