Longtime township trustee Fabian leading state township association
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STEUBENVILLE TOWNSHIP -- Adding onto his 26-year career in local township government, the chairman of the Steubenville Township Board of Trustees was elected in February to become president of the Ohio Township Association Board of Directors.
Scott Fabian was elected to the position during the 2024 OTA Winter Conference, held at the Columbus Convention Center in February.
Since he was first elected as an OTA director in 2008, Fabian has risen through its officer ranks, having been elected secretary-treasurer in 2018, elected second vice president in 2020 and appointed first vice president in June.
As president, Fabian will assist in management of the OTA by participating in budget adoption, expenditure authorization, creating programs, planning legislative agendas and making committee appointments, among other tasks.
According to its website, the OTA is "dedicated to promoting and preserving Ohio townships and township government through educational materials, forums and lobbying efforts." Founded in 1928, the OTA has 5,000 active members, each of them trustees and fiscal officers from the 1,308 townships in Ohio -- Jefferson County contributes 14 townships to that number.
The OTA's 20-member board, which meets five times each year, contains 16 directors. Those 16 are elected from among active township trustees or fiscal officers from 88 Ohio counties, representing 87 county township associations -- townships in Cuyahoga County caucus with adjacent counties.
One representative from each of the county township associations votes for the directors. During the annual winter conference, directors are elected to four-year terms, with the 16 seats being divided in half and trading elections every two years.
Heading the board are its four officers -- president, first vice president, second vice president and secretary-treasurer -- each of whom may hold his or her specific seat for two two-year terms. The winter conference hosts more than 2,000 Ohio trustees and fiscal officers, who may vote for the OTA's officers.
Having started with the OTA's board of directors in 2008, Fabian said it was "never my intention" to become the board's president.
"(President) is one of the positions I really never sought," Fabian said March 6. "I was happy being a director."
It was during his first year as a director that Fabian had a conversation with the board's then-President Tom Wilsey, a trustee for Ross Township in Butler County. Wilsey, who was soon to meet his term limit, told Fabian that it was his turn to take on the officer role.
"He more or less said it's time for you to move up," Fabian said. "Me and him went around for like 10 minutes, back and forth, over it. Then the next day, at the board meeting, all day long, that's what was running through my head. Then I announced to the board (that) if I get elected at home, ... I will be submitting my name for secretary-treasurer.
"That's how I got started in the officer role. If it wasn't for Tom pushing me, I'd still be a director."
Since then, Fabian has moved up the ranks, as is expected of officers unless they resign or are voted out of their trustee position at home.
Before being elected president, he was appointed to the first vice president role after the seat's holder resigned early.
Fabian has more than just Wilsey to thank for his success in the OTA. He also credits the late Raymond Amoroso, former Smithfield Township trustee and Jefferson County's first OTA director, for getting him interested in the association and introducing him to others within it.
Additionally, Fabian said it was an "emotional time" seeing the departure from office of his OTA presidential predecessor, Tim Lynch of Liberty Township in Seneca County. Fabian recalled that the two started on the OTA's board at the same time in 2008, adding "We've been through a lot (together.)"
Finally, Fabian recognized his father, John "Wiz" Fabian, who introduced him to township government as a child. John Fabian was a 26-year Steubenville Township Trustee, serving from 1970 to 1996; an eight-year village councilman for Mingo Junction; and the mayor of Mingo Junction for 10 years.
Fabian, who now matches his father in number of years serving in township government, said that being president of the OTA will not prevent from keeping his hometown of Steubenville Township his "first priority."
Fabian also is president of the Jefferson County Township Association, president of the Jefferson County Regional Planning Commission, chairman of the Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority, a member of the Ohio Township Association Risk Management Authority, a member of Mingo Junction Knights of Columbus Council 4361, a member of Father Bigelow Assembly 803 and a lifetime member of the NRA.
A 37-year employee at the Jefferson County Highway Department, Fabian has been married for 33 years to his wife, Jennifer, with whom he has two daughters, Jordan and Jenna.
Moving forward with the OTA, Fabian said, he will be continuing to monitor actions in the Ohio Legislature as they pertain to townships. The OTA, which he said is dedicated to "protecting and preserving the way of life in the townships," has staff who lobby at the state level and notify the OTA's board of important legislation.
Fabian is joined in the officer role by Secretary-Treasurer Carl Mangun of Augusta Township in Carroll County. Having two officers who hail from Eastern Ohio will be beneficial for the region because it provides a voice for the region's specific issues, particularly oil and gas, Fabian said.
Reiterating the words he spoke after his election at the OTA's winter conference, Fabian said he thanks "everybody who trusted in me to lead the association into the future."