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 About Tony Arnett
Tony Arnett was born in Greenville, Ohio. He moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio and grew up there. He flourished in the small town environment of Yellow Springs, excelling in school and related activities.
Wanting to give back to the community that did so much for him as a youth, Tony began his public service career when he was elected to a 4-year term on the Yellow Springs Board of Education in 1994.
He was Board President in 1996, Vice-President 1994-95 and Legislative Liaison all 4 years.
During his term, the Board hired 2 new principals, and with the retirement of Ken Yonkee, hired current Superintendent Anthony Armocida.
Even more significant than this, the School District built its first positive fund balance in over 10 years during Tony's term on the Board. He helped secure a State of Ohio Venture Capital grant for Mills Lawn Elementary School. He assisted in both the elementary schoool and high school achieving National Blue Ribbon School recognition by the U.S. Department of Education.
During his term and afterward, Tony championed the reform of school funding in Ohio, and lobbied state legislators on the subject.
Tony served on every school levy committee from 1995-2005.
Tony was elected to a 4-year term on Village Council in 1997.
During the following years, Council faced difficult issues surrounding Affordable Housing on the Glass Farm,
wellhead protection, and the Village budget, in addition to hiring a new Village Manager in October, 2000.
Tony voted against the proposal to donate land on the eastern portion of the Glass Farm to Home, Inc.
Later, Tony brought forward his own plan for the use of the Glass Farm that included green space and affordable housing.
Tony stood against the disbanding of the
previous Wellhead Protection Committee, of which he had previously been
the chairperson. Tony's consistent position on the Village budget was one of
fiscal constraint and long-range planning to address revenue and capital
projects.
In November, 2001, Tony was re-elected
to a second 4-year term, placing first in a field of 8, with
over 50% of the voters selecting him. He was elected by his fellow Council members as President
of Village Council. The local economy, long-range planning, the Village
budget and wellhead protection continued to be top priorities
for Tony. As Council President, Tony focused on good process during Council meetings, with open, equitable participation for the
public.  Following the defeat of the Home Inc. Glass Farm plan (voted down in a special election on February 5, 2002), Tony
called upon all interested parties to come forward and work on a new housing plan on which a vast majority of the community could agree. With a stagnant income tax base and recent job cuts in local industry, focus shifted to developing local business. Tony helped lead the initiative to create a commerce park since 1999 and authored several papers on strategic direction for the local economy.
In addition to these public roles, Tony served on
several non-profit boards in Yellow Springs. From 1992-1998, Tony served on the Board of
Trustees of the Community Children's Center. He was Board President
from 1995-1998 and Vice-President before that. Tony is also a founding
member of the Yellow Springs Endowment for Education and served on its
Board from 1994-2001. He was Grant Committee Chairperson from 1996-2000.
He founded "Gang Greene", a volunteer
group working on nature preservation and trail restoration in the Glen
Helen Nature Preserve. He joined the Board of Trustees of the Glen Helen Association in 2001 and served as President from 2002-2005. As GHA President, he successfully negotiated the donation of land back to Glen Helen after that land was sold by Antioch College. He also served on Antioch College's Glen Helen Board from 2002-2005. In 2002, Tony was invited to join the Board of Community Resources, the local Community Improvement Corporation focused on developing the local economy. He was also active in Republican Party politics as a member of the Greene County Republican Party Central Committee. (A complete list of Tony's community service activities can be found here.)
In May 2003, Tony married Katherine Wehmeyer in a beautiful ceremony at the First Presbyterian Church in Yellow Springs. Katherine is a Wisconsin native, from the Plymouth area. They met while she worked at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
In 2005, Tony and Kathy moved to Watertown, Wisconsin, located halfway between Madison and Milwaukee. They bought a beautiful old home in the South Washington St. Historic District (read more.) Tony immediately sought out community service opportunities and was appointed to the city's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Commission in April, 2006. A year later, in April 2007, Tony was elected to the Watertown Common Council, as Alderman for the 7th District. As Alderman, he serves on the Finance Committee and Public Works Commission.
Tony holds a Bachelor's in Management from Antioch University - McGregor. He has also attended the University of Chicago and Wright State University.
For 10 years, Tony ran Dark Star Books and
Comics, expanding the business from 1 store in Yellow Springs to 3 stores
in the Dayton, Ohio area. In 1995, Tony moved into the technology field, learning to manage databases and build websites. In 12 years, he developed more than 40 websites. As a technology consultant, his clients included General Motors, the U.S. Navy, NCR, US Steel and the University of Dayton. For the past 8 years, Tony has worked for Schaeffer's Investment Research, where he is Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer.
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