My name is Gary York, and I’m honored to be running for Madison Township Trustee.

Madison Township has been my home since 1972, and my wife Jen’s since 1976. We both grew up here and proudly graduated from Groveport Madison High School in 1983. In 2017, we built our home in Groveport and moved in the following year. As a proud blended family, we are blessed with four children and three grandchildren. Our lives are firmly rooted in this community, and our faith plays a central role—we are active members of Fellowship Baptist Church, where we find strength, purpose, and connection.

I dedicated 37 years to public service in law enforcement, with over 30 of those years spent serving the City of Groveport. In 2018, I was honored to be appointed Police Chief for Madison Township—a role I held until my retirement in December 2024. Throughout my career, I have remained committed to the principles of integrity, accountability, and transparency—values I pledge to uphold as your Township Trustee.

I believe effective local leadership begins with listening, showing up, and putting people before politics. With your support, I’m ready to continue serving the community I love—this time as your Madison Township Trustee.

While serving as your Police Chief, I worked hard alongside my team, our Board and Community Partners to achieve the following:

• Increase staffing levels

• Maintain minimum staffing levels of two officers per shift 

• Improved Relationship between the FOP Capitol City Lodge #9 and Madison Township 

• Reduced Grievances

• Reduced Legal Cost 

• Revamped the hiring process to get a more qualified and diversified staff

• Revamped promotional process to assessment center style 

• Promoted the first female Sergeant in Township history

• Established a plan of succession through promotion and professional training 

• Established a training plan to focus on policy through monthly scenario-based training, open ranges, and open mats for subject control, in-class training courses, Crisis Intervention Training, and yearly legal update date training

• Changed the culture of the Department and how we policed the community

• Established community engagement with involvement in community events such as Canal Winchester & Groveport's Touch-A-Truck, 4th of July, and Labor Day, the Santa Parade in Blacklick Estates, and Christmas in the Village in Canal Winchester, schools, businesses, and programs such as women's self-defense classes, National Night Out, Faith in Blue, Beggars Night

• Reimagined and modernized the Department Patch to reflect the community we serve 

• Established Department core values of Honor, Respect, Professionalism, and Integrity

• New graphic design for cruisers

• Added additional cruisers to the fleet

• Initiated a preventative maintenance program, extending the life of our cruisers

• New uniform design

• External Ballistic Vest Carriers

• Rifle Plates, Carriers, and Ballistic Helmets for Active Threat Response

• Guardian Angels

• Tourniquets

• NARCAN

• Glass Break Tools

• Halligan Bar & Breaching Equipment

• Lexipol policy and procedures

• Updated and, in most cases, drafted job descriptions

• Ohio Collaborative Certification

• New Motorola portable radios

• New Motorola mobile radios

• New back-channel Motorola radio server, base, portables & mobile radios

• Body Worn Cameras (Axon Fleet/BWC with holster and taser activation sensors)

• Matrix Records Management System

• Monthly stats provided to the Board and area elected officials

• New duty weapons (Glock Model 45) 

• New weapon-mounted lights

• New duty holsters

• Less lethal shotguns

• New men's and women's locker rooms

• New records room

• New storage room

• New training room

• New report room

• Remodeled patrol room

• Remodeled patrol office

• Remodeled prisoner holding cell number 2 with a bench

• Remodeled vestibule and lobby

• Remodeled and freshly painted stairwells

• Relocated all supervisors' offices to one hallway

• New exterior security cameras

• New interior security cameras

• Drug Dropbox, Flag Dropbox

• Social Media Accounts (Facebook & X)

• FREE Women's Self-Defense Classes

• Established the first Safety Exchange Zone in the Groveport/Madison area

• Event Tents and table coverings with the department logo for Community events

• SRO Canal Winchester School District drafted a contract

• Two SROs with the Groveport Madison School District drafted contract(s)

• New Department Chaplain Position

• Starfish Assignment, where our officers provided and read books to children in Canal WInchester and Groveport Madison Schools

• Recycling Program to recycle all paper waste received by the Police Department

• For the first time in its fifty-year history, the name Madison Township Police and address number 4567 were affixed to the outside of the Police Building

• Authorized Personnel Only Signs on Police Building

• Memorial Plaques for Chief Michael Ratliff and Officer Brian Beach 

• Secured Flock Cameras & Mobile Pro Video Trailer via Crime Reduction Grant

• Secured approximately $736,536 in grant funding

  • • Ohio Attorney General Body Armor 

    • Office of Criminal Justice Services 

      • • • Crime Reduction 

          • ARRPA

          • Body-Worn Camera

    • Edward Byrne Memorial (Federal) Justice Assistance Grant - Servers

    • Community Oriented Policing Services – U.S. Department of Justice - Hiring

Grant funding allowed for equipment purchase and/or hiring officers outside of levied monies to serve the Township better and protect you. 

I'm frugal and take my responsibility as a Steward of the taxpayers' money seriously. After all, as a resident of Madison Township, this is my money as well. As Chief, I was the one who would go around the station and turn off lights that didn't need to be on, turn down the heat that wasn't necessary, and, in the summertime, keep the station a bit warmer than it should have been. But I was trying to pinch every penny on a shoestring budget. 

Unlike cities, which typically receive their revenue from an income tax, townships rely on funds from property taxes, which are collected only twice a year. A minimum of 25% carryover was required to operate the Department until the first settlement comes in by late March or early April. 

I'm proud of my financial accomplishments with the department. I always worked hard preparing the department's budgets and included others so that they would learn the process. 

In addition to creating the budget spreadsheets, I aimed to develop and maintain a strategic plan for the department. This way, we could determine our current and future needs and map out plans or phases, as I would call them, for remodeling projects within the department. 

One of my regrets is not having had the opportunity to complete a critical remodeling project for the police station. This project was intended to address much-needed improvements to the prisoner intake and processing area, as well as the restrooms within the facility. At present, both employees and arrested individuals share the same restroom facilities. This arrangement is not only unsanitary but also poses significant safety concerns for our officers and civilian staff. If elected Trustee, I am hopeful that we will have the opportunity to complete this important project.

Expanding Public Safety in Canal Winchester:

In early 2024, anticipating the expiration of Canal Winchester’s policing contract with Fairfield County, my office proactively developed a comprehensive proposal to provide professional police services to the city. From day one, expanding our service into Canal Winchester has been a long-standing goal—one rooted in a belief that its residents and businesses deserve high-quality, responsive policing.

Even without a formal contract in place, I made it a priority for our officers to maintain visibility in the city—patrolling neighborhoods, schools, and business districts when calls for service allowed. I emphasized to our team that Canal Winchester residents were contributing tax dollars and deserved to see a return on that investment in the form of presence and support.

To improve situational awareness and interagency coordination, I led efforts to enable our officers to monitor and, when appropriate, communicate with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office. This required strategic planning and collaboration with the Fairfield County Sheriff, his communications team, Franklin County EMA, and Motorola. Ultimately, we invested in new Motorola mobile and portable radios, which—after securing the scan capability from the Ohio Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS)—allowed our officers to monitor and respond to both Franklin and Fairfield County calls.

I also initiated a monthly reporting system to share patrol statistics with our Board, the mayor, and Canal Winchester City Council—ensuring full transparency and accountability. While some early questions arose regarding patrol time versus taxpayer investment, I welcomed those conversations. They demonstrated genuine interest from city leaders, and it reinforced the value of the data we were providing.

The reality is, without a formal contract, our officers were also obligated to respond to calls throughout Madison Township. However, had we secured the agreement, dedicated patrol units would have been assigned specifically to Canal Winchester.

This effort reflects my proactive approach to leadership—anticipating needs, building partnerships, and working tirelessly to expand public safety services where they’re needed most.

Investing in School Safety and Community Partnerships - Canal Winchester Local Schools:

In August 2022, Canal Winchester Local Schools approached me with a request to provide a School Resource Officer (SRO) for the district. This was a significant and exciting opportunity—marking the first time Madison Township Police Department would have a dedicated officer serving inside a Canal Winchester school.

Today, that partnership continues successfully, with one of our officers proudly assigned to Canal Winchester Middle School. The relationship between our department and the school district remains strong, built on trust, communication, and a shared commitment to student safety.

That same year, the Canal Winchester High School Athletic Director requested our assistance with special duty security for home football and basketball games. We were proud to support this initiative and provide a safe environment for students, families, and fans.

In 2023, during the first football game of the season against Groveport, our officers demonstrated exceptional bravery when they intervened in a dangerous situation—arresting two juveniles and one adult who had brought loaded, fully automatic Glock handguns into the stadium. Thanks to the quick action and professionalism of our officers, no one was injured.

Their actions that night exemplified the core values of Madison Township Police: Honor, Respect, Professionalism, and Integrity. They were formally recognized by the City of Canal Winchester, the Groveport Madison Board of Education, and the Madison Township Board of Trustees.

Although now retired, I remain immensely proud of their unwavering courage and dedication during my time as their Chief. Moments like these reflect the strength of our partnerships and the dedication of our officers to protect and serve—both in our schools and across our community.