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Commissioners Corner…
Thanks to everyone
for a great year
The end of the year is just around the corner for us here in the
Commissioner’s office. In our Commissioner’s Corner columns this
year, and our radio appearances once a month on 95.7 F.M. the Tiger, we
have tried to keep the citizens of Darke County informed as to what we
are doing in the Commissioner’s office, in the courthouse, and
throughout the county. This had not been tried before, so we were
unsure as to how it would be received by you, the public. We have
received many comments from you that these columns and programs are
informative, very positive, and much appreciated. Thank
You!
The main purpose of these is to help us connect with all of you, and
insure that we are accessible, approachable, and open to you at all
times. We want to dispel the notion that we do things in secret,
and without input from our employers, the public. We will
continue to work very hard to earn your trust, be as open as we
possibly can, and to represent all the values that Darke County
possesses when we are out to other places. We are blessed in the
fact that all of our media outlets are willing participants in getting
information to you, and being careful watchdogs of what we are doing,
to protect the people of the County. Thanks to all of you for
your continued diligence and watchful eye for the people of Darke
County.
This column will be a little different in that we want to take the time
to count the many Blessings that have happened to Darke County this
year. We are blessed with the fact that the County Commissioners
Association of Ohio (CCAO) has such a fine policy director in Cheryl
Subler. Cheryl is one of the sweetest people we know, and is
always willing to help. Cheryl is from Versailles and knows Darke
County very well. Thanks, Cheryl, you’re the best.
We are blessed that we now have local Representatives, Senators, and
Congressmen that do have a direct tie to Darke County. People such as
State Representatives Jim Buchy and Richard Adams, whom we have
contacted and met with several times this year when we have a problem,
or just needed advice or information, have been more than helpful and
always prompt to answer. Thanks to both of you for your
quick responses, your genuine concern for the people of Darke County,
and your friendship.
Senator Keith Faber is someone who can be contacted and he responds
quickly and usually can answer your questions with one call.
Senator Bill Beagle, the newest member of the Senate from our area, is
truly becoming a great legislator. Senator Beagle truly does care
about all of us here and spends a lot of time in our county talking to
businesses and to us asking how he can help. We are lucky to have
such good relationships with our Senators. Thanks to both of you.
Governor John Kasich’s office is represented to us by Sandra
Brasington. Sandra is one of the most conscientious people we
have ever met. She always asks us “What can the Governor’s office
do to help you?” The Governor’s office is very quick to respond, and it
is a pleasure to deal with them, and especially with Sandra whose smile
and laughter is infectious.
Representative John Boehner does not get up this way very often
himself, but his representatives, Ryan Day and Frank DeBrosse, are here
frequently to help us however they can. Both of them are fairly
young, and their enthusiasm is catching. Their assistance is truly
appreciated.
The economy in the rest of the country has been fairly stagnant this
year, but here in Darke County we have been blessed that we are on the
rise. We have added hundreds of jobs, retained as many, and have
new businesses looking to move here. The Jobs center has jobs
available, and one of our areas of focus next year will be workforce
development. We have good paying jobs, but we need skilled
workers willing to take them. This will be a major focus moving
forward. All of this is possible because of several groups of
people, Local Community organizations, service organizations, The Darke
County Community Improvement Corporation (C. I.C.), the Darke County
Economic Development office, and the Partnering for Progress initiative
(P4P). These groups of people have decided that in order to get
ahead, we needed to start working more closely together. The
success that Darke County has had is because of this close
collaboration. We are blessed in that we all work as one for the
betterment of the entire County, and all you need for proof is to look
around at the many successes this past year, and for that we are truly
blessed. New and expanding businesses such as Integrity
Ambulance, Continental Carbonic, Fram, Whirlpool, Ramco Motors,
American Plastics Recycling, Specialized Castings, Klockner-PentaPlast,
Greenville Technologies, Jafe Glass, Family Health, Wayne Hospital, and
numerous smaller businesses have all decided that Darke County was the
place for them to stay connected to.
All of this has mainly been through the efforts of our Economic
Development Director, Mark Saluk. Mark has poured his heart and
soul into making us the economic bright spot in the State, and he has
been highly successful. Darke County is being noticed throughout
the State and the region as the “hot spot” to relocate or expand.
Words cannot express the gratitude owed to Marc and his assistant,
Melanie Nealeigh. Countless hours have been spent by these two away
from their families to make life better for us in the County. We
are blessed that these two are willing to sacrifice their own time to
help all of us. Many thanks to both of you!
The Commissioners know that it is an honor to serve all of you in Darke
County. We have been blessed that you have entrusted your
well-being to us, and that honor is not given easily. We realize
that we have an obligation to serve you to the best of our
ability. We understand that we are responsible for spending your
tax dollars efficiently, representing the values you possess, and have
an obligation to be open and honest with each of you. We take
this seriously. We also realize that we are human and we will on
occasion make mistakes. It happens. We will do our best to
rectify those mistakes, and do our best to not make them again.
That is the oath we took when you elected us and we hold ourselves to
that standard. The obligation to look after the well being of
53,000 people can be a severe challenge. We accept that roll
willingly.
We enjoy being able to serve you and are blessed to have families that
understand the time sacrifices we take from them to serve you, the
citizens of the county. Thank you to our spouses for their
understanding.
We will resume our public sessions in January as always on Mondays and
Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. here in the Commissioner’s office at 520 South
Broadway in Downtown Greenville. May all of you count your
blessings this Christmas season, be thankful for what you have, be
optimistic about our future, and continue to make Darke County one of
the very best places to live! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,
and may God bless you all!!
The Darke County Commissioners
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