As the 2010 election campaign nears crunch time, the Wood County Commissioner candidates are highlighting the University in their platforms.
Republican Tim Brown, Democrat Fred Keith and Independent John Davoli are campaigning for the county seat in Bowling Green.
Brown, current Wood County Commissioner and University graduate, said he hopes voters will re-elect him based on his experience of bettering the local economy and his goals of working more with local and University officials, as well as University students.
“I want to make our county a better place for the future,” Brown said. “This is clearly an election focused on local economy and I’m focused on job development in our county.”
The most important issues are jobs and taxes, Brown said. He has addressed both as commissioner and said he will continue to in the future.
“Commissioners have full authority over local sales tax and we haven’t raised [Wood County’s] tax in over 20 years, which really benefits students with limited financial resources in the area,” he said. “At the same time, we’re also not spending money we don’t have. We’re good fiscal stewards of peoples’ tax money, while still being able to provide the same services.”
Brown said he is creating jobs by working with CSX as it builds its $175 million intermodal facility that will bring east coast goods by rail to Wood County for Midwest distribution. The facility — the largest of its kind in the United States — will open this spring and will create environmentally-friendly jobs in transportation, distribution and warehousing.
“This will hopefully mean some jobs for BGSU grads who are interested in that type of work,” he said. “I’m very proud of what this will do to market our county nationwide.”
Keith, three-time Lakota School Board member, said he also would stimulate Wood County’s economy if elected commissioner, but revamping education should be a starting point. He helped pass a Lakota levy that will bring a new K-12 Lakota school for fall 2012, he said.
“If companies see there’s a good, stable base in the community, they will be more apt to build here,” Keith said. “Well-educated kids will grow up to be productive, good citizens, and if they have jobs here, they’ll stay, pay taxes and help the schools. It’s a continuous cycle.”
Keith has been campaigning throughout Wood County advocating this stance, he said, at various fairs, festivals and community-sponsored events — and even at the University earlier this fall.
“I want to hear what people say, address questions and explain my position,” he said. “We need to look to develop new work here, as well as keep the jobs we have, and it all comes down to selling Wood County as a great place to live, work and raise a family.”
John Davoli, current Fostoria Mayor, said his campaign would not be possible without the help and support of his wife and children, one of whom provides a special link between Fostoria and the University — his son Mathew Davoli.
Mathew, a University senior, said he has been spending most of his free time before and after classes going door-to-door in Bowling Green, Perrysburg and other nearby towns, passing out postcards with his father’s information.
“College students have a low voter turnout rate, so I haven’t gone to many places on campus, but I have talked to some people in my classes, too,” he said. “Sometimes my teachers will ask me, ‘How is the campaigning going?’ and I tell them that Wood County is a big county, but we’re trying to cover everything in it.”
Running independently puts a strain on campaign funds and time, John said, but also gives him the ability to represent interests of the people, not a political party.
“I think that BG students and anyone who is tired of all the back and forth politics should really consider giving me a nod,” he said. “Every sign you see up, I’ve personally put in the ground. I don’t have a political team doing this for me.”
An important issue John said he would address if elected commissioner is the preservation of farmland, because “once you lose it, you lose it forever.”
“I’m all for new business, as well as going green,” John said. “But the greenest you can go is redevelopment within cities and villages where dilapidated factories and buildings now stand. We need to clean up those areas, as well as farm fields.”
John said he has visited every home in Wood County, and if elected commissioner, he would also enjoy visiting the University often to communicate with students, answer questions and receive input.
“I want to make a personal outreach to people, and that’s why I’ve already gone to meetings in all of Wood County’s villages, townships and cities,” he said. “E-mail, Twitter, Facebook — all that stuff is good, but I feel many politicians have gotten too complacent by doing all of that.”
To learn more about the candidates, voters can visit http://www.citizensforbrown.com, http://www.keith4commissioner.com and http://www.votedavoli.com.f
