After an outpour of complaints, employees at The Plains office of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services won’t move to Columbus after all.
Rather than remaining in Athens County, though, these workers will be transferred to an office in Chillicothe.
After the agency announced its intention to close its office in The Plains and move employees to Columbus, workers met with state officials to express their thoughts, said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.
“We met with employees who expressed concerns about the commute and the impact it would have on their professional and personal lives,” Johnson said. “We took that information and came to this decision.”
Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said that moving the employees to Chillicothe will still have a negative impact on the local economy.
“We won’t have these employees coming into our communities to work and spend money,” Eliason said. “It’s going to change shopping patterns in The Plains.”
This spring, The Plains location will be one of 13 offices closed by the state — a move that will save taxpayers $2 million, Johnson said.
Offices with more vacant space were the first locations targeted by the state, Johnson said.
“The office space we were renting in The Plains is 48 percent vacant, so it isn’t an efficient way to operate” Johnson said. “In Chillicothe, the office space should be less than 10 percent vacant.”
Athens County Commissioners had offered to house The Plains employees at the Athens County Department of Jobs and Family Services office, 184 N. Lancaster St. — a location that would have had adequate space for the state’s 47 employees, said Nick Claussen, communications coordinator for the county department.
The state considered the commissioners’ offer, but because of potential IT concerns and infrastructure investments, the North Lancaster Street location was “not a viable option,” Johnson said.
Eliason said that the state agency didn’t consider the offer.
“They never had (a) discussion with us about their concerns, so I don’t think they took it seriously,” Eliason said.
Though state officials didn’t meet with county commissioners, the agency received input from Sen. Lou Gentile, D-30th, and Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-94th.
Gentile and Phillips were unavailable for comment.
sh335311@ohiou.edu
