VIENNA — Township officials made a series of moves, including one that would make its fiscal officer one of the youngest in the state.

Trustees swore in Jason Miner as their newest fiscal officer at the yearly reorganization meeting Monday.

Miner, 19, who came from Warren Township to serve as Vienna’s deputy fiscal officer in November, boasted nearly a year of experience as an assistant fiscal officer. He originally joined Warren Township in February but wasn’t formally hired as an assistant and administrative assistant part time until May 1.

Trustee Phil Pegg explained to residents at the meeting that Miner was the only applicant for the position, and is now residing and changing his voting registration to Vienna, making him qualify for it as a resident.

Trustees did not have to vote on the decision as he was the only applicant.

Miner follows on the heels of a series of former fiscal officers the township had in 2024, a list featuring Corrine Hardman, Rhonda Root and Linda McCullough, whose pretrial hearing on theft charges was moved to Jan. 22.

JASON MINER

Miner acknowledged some of the mixed feelings residents had about him taking over the role after the reorganization meeting, going back to when he took over deputy fiscal officer.

Miner explained that his nine months in Warren Township before coming to Vienna gave him a great deal of insight as to how the position works.

“Everything that comes through the fiscal office, I’ve got a part in. Every decision the township makes, you know, at some point or another it comes through the fiscal office and all of our meetings,” Miner said. “There’s usually five of us making these decisions (in Warren Township) — three trustees and the fiscal officer and I, we all give our input. So I’ve had pretty good involvement in the operations of a township and how it should be done.”

“I’ve got the understanding that the people in township, they’re obviously skeptical, but you know, I think they’d be skeptical of a 57-year-old fiscal officer because the position right now just has so much controversy surrounding it because of the bad actions of Ms. McCullough,” he added.

Miner said he plans to run in November’s special election once the term for the position runs out.

He encouraged residents to reach out and call him, noting the value of transparency moving forward.

In other moves that were made at the meeting, the township approved bringing back Corrine Hardman as assistant to the fiscal officer at a rate of $16 per hour, a position that Tom Shay, Braceville’s fiscal officer, served in for Hardman and had said he could return to prior to his last day in November.

“She is very sharp. Corrine worked in construction for a while, so she’s pretty direct, that’s the thing I like,” Miner said about his working relationship with her. “She stepped down from being a fiscal officer, but she’s got a lot of Vienna-specific knowledge that I might not have.”

“She’s incredibly dedicated and she cares a lot,” he added.

Miner said he spoke to Shay about returning, but based on their conversation, he was comfortable with Miner “taking the reins.”