Former Mayor Praises Barberton Foundation Accomplishments

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Kenneth Cox was running for mayor of Barberton, Ohio, in 2023, and when he saw a negative Facebook post about him, he decided to do something about it.

"The residents of Barberton need a refresher on what the foundation has done over the last 27 years," he wrote in an op-ed for the Canton Repository.

The Barberton Community Foundation was formed in 1996 to take the proceeds from the sale of Barberton Citizens Hospital, and its first big project was to build Barberton High School.

Over the next 25 years, the foundation paid $58 million for the school, including principal and interest.

"It bothers me when people badmouth the foundation for the many contributions it has made for the benefit of Barberton," Cox writes.

"The foundation was not set up to assume the responsibility of the taxpayers toward the functioning of the school system or the city government.

Instead, over a period of 25 years, including principal and interest on the bonds (which the foundation purchased from the school), the foundation paid the total cost of the high school, which was $58 million."

Among other things, the foundation funded the construction of a sports complex, an athletic complex, two industrial parks, and the purchase of the Barberton National Armory for use by the city' Read the Entire Article