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HAMILTON — Former West Chester Twp. Trustee José Alvarez has added his name to be considered for appointment to the Butler County commission seat Michael Fox left empty, while Middletown Mayor David Schiavone withdrew Monday.

With the application deadline past, that makes it a three-way race among Alvarez, developer and former county commissioner Don Dixon and state Rep. Shawn Webster.

They are all set to be screened tonight with four candidates seeking to fill county Treasurer Carole Mosketti's post, which she is leaving May 31 after being convicted last week of a misdemeanor ethics violation for hiring her granddaughter.

The treasurer applicants are: Hamilton attorney and former Hamilton City Councilman Dave Davidson; GOP Executive Secretary Donna Defazio; US Bank Executive and former Middletown Vice Mayor Nancy Nix; and Don Spurlock, owner of Spurlock Insurance in West Chester Twp.

The county Republican Party's Central Committee votes June 5 for a commissioner, who will fill Fox's unexpired term until January 2009. A new treasurer could be selected June 12 to hold office until September 2009.

Alvarez, 56, was a West Chester Twp. trustee for 10 years until January 2006 and is a former board member for Butler County United Way. He's been an engineer for GE Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati for 34 years, he said.

"I think my background and experience could help the county," Alvarez said, highlighting West Chester Twp.'s economic growth in recent years. "It would be a good thing to bring that experience to economic development."

Alvarez said he would aim to represent the entire county as commissioner, but his West Chester Twp. residency could help draw votes and ensure for the party that a Republican could win a full term in November 2008. The predominately Republican township has the most voting power of any community in the county with nearly 19 percent of the vote in the last general election, according county election records.

Still, Alvarez admitted Dixon, of Fairfield Twp., has strong name recognition in West Chester Twp. through his family's business, Hillandale Communities, which builds and operates retirement communities. Webster is a veterinarian in Hanover Twp., which represents 3 percent of the county's votes

Dixon has such strong backing from Republican county officeholders and past GOP chairmen that Schiavone dropped out Monday to also endorse him.

After receiving a letter last week signed by several officers who decided to support Dixon, Schiavone said Monday, "I didn't feel the timing was right for me."

Fox and Byron Johnson, a former president of the Middletown Republicans Club, have also endorsed Dixon, a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2000.

Fox resigned May 14 in hopes of becoming the next executive director of the county child protective services, now a division of the Department of Job and Family Services. His former colleagues Gregory Jolivette and Charles Furmon — as well as the new appointee — would make the selection.

However, county Democratic Party Chairman Ronnie Wardrup questions if Fox can legally apply because he said Fox has played a role in the hiring and firing of the immediate past director, creating a conflict of interest. Wardrup requested an opinion from county Prosecutor Robin Piper, a Republican.

Piper said though Wardrup's letter seemed "politically motivated" with "negative insinuations," his office will research the issue and respond before a new executive director is hired. Fox has called the request a "political stunt."

Wardrup said his party's questions are valid when Ohio Revised Code section 102.03 appears to be "intended to address situations of this type." The law states that no former public official within 12 months of their service can "act in a representative capacity for any person on any matter in which the public official or employee personally participated as a public official or employee."

"Anytime there's a question on anything that goes against the grain of their party, it seems to be passed off as a political stunt," Wardrup said. "It is not a stunt. It is a right of our citizens to question if we feel something is being done inappropriately."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or chiggins@coxohio.com.