ATHENS, Ohio – Beth Clodfelter, who recently was elected to Athens City Council, has announced her candidacy for Athens County Treasurer in the 2024 election.
“I’m really excited about the possibility of serving as Athens County Treasurer,” Clodfelter said.
Clodfelter, a Democrat, was first elected to council in 2019; she resigned in May 2021 to become Appalachian Ohio representative for Sen. Sherrod Brown. She ran unopposed for an at-large seat on Athens City Council in November’s general election.
Council members are elected in odd-numbered years and serve two-year terms, so Clodfelter’s term on council would end in December 2025. If elected as treasurer, the term would begin in September 2025 — three months before her council term ends.
Clodfelter may hold positions on council and as treasurer simultaneously, according to the Ohio Ethics Commission. However, Clodfelter indicated that she would resign from council if elected treasurer.
“Even if I get elected to be the Athens County Treasurer, I will be able to complete nearly 90% of that city council term,” she said. “The Athens County Democratic Committee will be able to appoint a person to finish the rest of my term. If elected, I would be able to give the city council and that central committee 10 months notice.”
Current treasurer Ric Wasserman, also a Democrat, will have served almost two full terms at the conclusion of his current term in September 2025. Wasserman was appointed as treasurer in 2018 and was elected to the position in that year’s general election. He won again in 2020, running unopposed.
He twice ran for county auditor, in 2002 and 2022, losing both times to Jill Davidson, a Republican.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve as Athens County’s Treasurer for these past several years,” Wasserman said in a statement. “I think the principle of citizen-government is very important and mostly for that reason I have decided not to seek a third term.”
Wasserman expressed full support for and confidence in Clodfelter’s run for treasurer.
“I know Beth is a staunch supporter of the Athens County Land Bank, on whose board the Treasurer sits (by statute),” Wasserman added. “She is committed to carrying on the outstanding work the Land Bank has done all over the county but especially in our most vulnerable communities.”
Clodfelter expressed enthusiasm for the land bank as a mechanism for economic development.
“Both continuing and expanding the Athens County Land Bank will be really important to the financial health of villages, school districts and the county as a whole,” Clodfelter said. “Because when a delinquent and abandoned property is taken down, and if it can be put to better use again, then that property comes back on the tax rolls, which benefits the village where it is, and the school district it’s in, and also benefits the county. So that’s really important to the financial health of Athens County.”
Clodfelter said her financial background — specifically as a budget unit manager at Ohio University, where she “oversaw 17 different operating budgets that totaled over $1.3 million” — will provide beneficial experience to the position. She also has assisted with finances at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival, and in the Athens County Treasurer’s office itself.
She also pointed to her work with Brown’s office, which she said involved meeting “a wide variety of community officials in 25 counties of Appalachian Ohio” and having “in-depth discussions with people about their finances, and what the challenges were and what opportunities they were hoping to obtain.”
“I learned a lot about the financial issues facing county commissioners, and mayors, but also heads of chambers of commerce and community aid organizations and superintendents of K–12 schools” as well as university presidents, Clodfelter said.
“I think I gained a comprehensive model, a much more comprehensive view of what some of the most pertinent financial concerns, and hopes, are for a variety of community leaders in communities both large and small,” Clodfelter said. “And I think that that would serve me well … in serving as the Athens County Treasurer for the variety of people that we have in Athens County.”
