Brimfield fiscal officer race: Golden’s bankruptcy spurred opponent to run

Appointed as Brimfield’s fiscal officer Aug. 1, Jasmine Golden holds a master’s degree in forensic and fraud accounting and has extensive experience in local government, nonprofit organization and educational accounting.

Her opponent, 21-year old Blake Johnson, is a finance major at Kent State University. He plans to graduate in May.

Both are running for the unexpired term ending March 31, 2028, a position left vacant when former fiscal officer John Dalziel resigned from his office.

Golden, 37, came to Brimfield after having been found fiscally liable in two cases filed in 2024 in Portage County Common Pleas Court. Both cases were tied to Oh My Yum, a bakery business Golden attempted to establish in Meadowview Square, a shopping center in Franklin Township. Golden later declared personal bankruptcy.

She characterizes her bankruptcy filing as a tool the law provides so that people can continue to pursue “the American dream” after having faced financial difficulties. She said instead of thinking of bankruptcy as defining a person, it should serve as a gateway to possible positive futures.

In a previous interview, she’d told The Portager she’d learned some “hard lessons” from entrepreneurship that allow her to offer hope to others. She said she applied for the job to help clean up Brimfield’s financial challenges and bring some kind of transparency, accountability and hope to the community she calls home.

“I believe in order for me to do what I originally stated, I need a little more time. My whole goal is to use the skills I have to help better Brimfield’s financial situation. Anything I can do to help in a positive light, that’s what I’m willing to do,” she said.

In the few months Golden has served, she said she’s aligned all the township’s department heads under a single set of uniform fiscal policies and procedures that did not previously exist. Golden also said she is also exploring ways to streamline Brimfield’s budget so it is more realistic and transparent. Some department heads didn’t even know where they stood financially, she said.

She is also ensuring that the township meets its financial obligations in a more timely manner and is taking corrective action so that Brimfield’s state audits come back clean. The days of the same findings reappearing year after year are gone, she said.

Golden’s opponent, Johnson, doesn’t believe his age, academic obligations or lack of experience should dissuade voters.

“People think I’m young, but just because I’m young doesn’t mean I can’t do the job,” he said.

To Johnson, that means keeping accurate records, creating a budget for future years, keeping projects within budget and working with the trustees.

He said Golden’s filing for personal bankruptcy spurred him to run for the post she now occupies.

“People need to have trust in the fiscal office. I mean, obviously bankruptcy is pretty serious. If you’re going to be dealing with public money, how can the public trust what you’re doing if you have a bankruptcy,” he said. “The community deserves someone who doesn’t have that kind of reputation, someone they can trust.”

Balancing his senior year academic obligations with the job shouldn’t be a problem, he said, asserting that he is the correct choice to get Brimfield “back on track.”