Being a councilman can be a bit like a deer in the headlights. And sometimes the deer in the headlights can actually be the issue.The question of whether to cull the herd was just one of the tough issues on the plate of Hudson Councilman-at-Large William Wooldredge, who was elected two years ago.As area village and city residents go to the polls this week to elect representatives to council, incumbents were asked to talk about the kind of work they do — the routine and the unusual.They balance budgets, fix highways, intervene in neighborhood disputes and deal with dogs and varmints.Wooldredge, a longtime participant in Hudson affairs, looked at the records to make decisions about the growing deer problem.According to police, 57 animal-related accidents were reported from Sept. 30, 2010, to the end of September this year.The city has opted to allow bow hunting to cull the herd.While the most recent number actually indicates a drop in crashes from a total of 60 in 2010 and 62 in 2009, Wooldredge said, residents seem to be in agreement about thinning out the population.“My concern with [the deer] is that it’s a safety issue,” Wooldredge said.Hank Novak, council member for the village of Richfield, said he has faced wildlife headaches of his own.After a period of heavy rainfall in Richfield, part of a roadway eroded and the area became a driving hazard. Novak said the village could schedule roadwork only during certain times of the year because construction might disturb the sleep habits of a bat in the area.“People are in danger, the road is falling away and we can’t fix it because we’re gonna wake up a bat,” he said. “It just sounds so ridiculous, but that’s the way government works.”Novak, 66, said he joined the Village Council shortly after he retired as an engineering manager at a medical company.“I thought it would be a good way to use my managing skills,” he said. “I find I don’t need my managing skills; I need patience.” But while resident complaints and animal problems can take a front seat some of the time, most cities and villages are keeping busy with a struggle to make up for a reduction in state funds. Less moneyIn Tallmadge, the city has already begun to consolidate services to save money on full-time employees and to prepare for future cuts.The city combined its police dispatch center with the nearby city of Stow and merged its building department with Summit County. The city income tax has also been outsourced to the Regional Income Tax Agency for collection.Robert Maguire, at-large council member, said Tallmadge council members are charged with balancing what’s best for the residents with what the city can afford.The city recently approved an industrial rezoning on its border with Brimfield Township to accommodate a factory to be built in the township. The approval, Maguire said, came in spite of concerns from Tallmadge residents about flooding in their backyards.The factory would bring 100 jobs to the area, he said, and City Council took steps to ensure runoff from the factory wouldn’t flood neighboring properties.“Obviously, everybody is fighting to get jobs, jobs, jobs and, in Ohio, our primary funding source is income tax in the municipalities,” Maguire said. “The more jobs we can attract to Tallmadge, well, we share that revenue with Brimfield.”Local officials in Hudson can afford to focus on deer because the statewide budget cuts putting other cities on edge aren’t affecting that community too much right now. “I think we’re in a relatively good position to weather the storm we’re going through,” Wooldredge said. In the village of Silver Lake, Jerry Budrevich, a district council member, said he thinks the village needs to be realistic in the budget battle by cutting into built-up reserve funds.“We have this rainy day fund that we’ve built up over time when the village had a surplus,” Budrevich said. “Times are tough and now seems to be the time to use it.”In Richfield, Novak said state cuts are coming at a time when the village owns an excess of property. “We have hundreds of acres of land that the village owns with no money and no plans to develop it,” he said.Novak added that any development projects the village does have planned are dependent on federal money.“There’s strings attached and it’s just not the best plan,” he said.Attracting businessesGreen, on the other hand, is developing its land by encouraging companies to set up shop in the city. “Now we’re back to trying to keep businesses and bring businesses in,” Councilman Dave France said.The city soon will add Summa and Akron General wellness centers. France said some of the residents in his ward are hesitant because the hospitals will add a lot more traffic. “That whole corridor is going to change with those businesses coming in, but they’re bringing jobs and income tax to the city,” France said. But the new development is also dredging up old concerns about storm water. France said he dealt with complaints about water problems when he first joined council in 1994. After completing a study about the issue, the city made some improvements and the complaints disappeared.“And now the storm water’s back. Development has caused some issues that we didn’t notice before,” France said. Green Councilman John “Skip” Summerville, like many other elected officials, takes the good with the bad because all their responsibilities boil down to helping others.“I really like helping people when they have problems,” Summerville said. “When you can help your neighbors, why wouldn’t you? It feels really good.” Budrevich of Silver Lake echoed those sentiments. “I think everybody in the village truly cares about the village and I think it keeps everybody a little closer. It feels like a neighborhood rather than just another place to have your house,” he said.But being a politician can bring a mixed bag of problems.When Summerville joined council, he knew concerns about potholes and snow plowing would land at his doorstep. But he didn’t anticipate the neighborhood squabbles about boats in backyards and garbage can placement that have also found their way to him. “I was surprised how many neighbor disputes I get called on. I get called on things like, ‘My neighbor keeps his garbage can on my side of the house and I don’t like it,’ ” Summerville said.The NewsOutlet is a joint media venture by student and professional journalists and is a collaboration of Youngstown State University, Kent State University, the University of Akron, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Canton Repository, Rubber City Radio, WYSU radio and the Youngstown Vindicator.