Both Republican candidates for Athens County Commissioner want to focus on bringing more jobs to the county, but have different ideas on how to accomplish this.
Larry Payne and Joe Yanity, along with seven democrats, are vying for Athens County Commissioner Bill Theisen's seat, which comes with a salary of $55,524, according to Athens County Auditors Office.Payne, 58, is the membership service coordinator for the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and also used to work at Columbia Gas of Ohio.
If we can bring additional jobs to the county, that's great. That will be one focus, but realistically retaining and expanding jobs where we already have them will be where the majority of our growth will be, Payne said. The addition of alternative energy companies could also bring more jobs to the county
he added.
Yanity 52 has served as a Canaan Township Trustee for the past two terms and works as the construction coordinator at the Columbia Gas of Ohio.
Partnering the commissioners with Ohio University and Hocking College is another way to create and maintain jobs
Vanity said.
Improving the quality of high-speed internet and partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture could also improve local business
Yanity added. If elected to office
the first thing Payne plans to do is talk to local businesses about how he can help them as a county commissioner.
Attempting to change the Athens County Commissioners' meeting time and location to make it more accessible to the public will be Yanity's first act if elected.
His life and work experience make him best qualified to the position of Commissioner
Yanity added.Payne said that it is his varied background in county service that makes him most qualified.On the number of candidates running in the primaries
Payne added
This gives the voters numerous choices where many times in the past, there has been only one candidate or maybe just two.
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23475,2008-02-29 00:00:00,Provost talks drug policy,",Free pizza and beverages drew about 25 students to a discussion with the provost yesterday that focused mainly on Ohio University's recently updated drug and alcohol policies.
Jim Sand
director of University Judiciaries
reported to those in attendance that judicial referrals had decreased by 483 in the year after OU implemented its new alcohol policy. During the 2005-2006 school year ' the year before OU updated its policy ' judiciaries processed 1
