ATHENS, Ohio — Athens County commissioner candidates shared their views and answered questions from the public at an League of Women Voters of Athens County candidate forum at the Athens Community Center on Sept. 24.
Incumbent Democratic candidate Charlie Adkins and Independent candidate Jon Rose offered statements to the public and answered questions on various topics. Though there were to be no rebuttals, the candidates in responses to questions sometimes addressed what each other said.
Learn more about these and other candidates and issues in our 2024 Voter Guide.
Opening statements
Adkins, a lifelong resident of Athens County, said he worked for 32 years with the Richland Avenue Fire Department, 30 years at Ohio University as a brick mason, and 20 years as a union president at the university, and 12 years as president of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
Adkins said as commissioner, he spearheads work on Athens County 911, Athens County Emergency Management Agency and Athens County Emergency Medical Services.
Rose, of Glouster, said he is a 20-year resident of Athens County, a small business owner and a homeowner. He is also a paramedic and formerly worked for Athens County EMS.
“I’m running for commissioner because I’ve seen how Athens County residents are hurting and how they’ve been left out in the cold,” Rose said.
What would you do to help solve the housing crisis for these low income families?
Rose said looking at the housing crisis requires “many different angles,” including building “affordable, safe housing for people. There are rentals out there that are super expensive, but they’re just dilapidated. That’s a huge issue.”
Rose added that “paying people living wages so that they can afford to buy their own homes,” could also help the housing crisis.
Adkins pointed to his ongoing work as county commissioner, including the completed Kershaw Greene complex off of SR 682 in Athens.
“I will continue working with the groups that come in that make sure the housing is actually affordable,” Adkins said. “Because sometimes they say affordable housing when it’s really not affordable. So I will continue working with different groups, different folks here in the county, different landlords here in the county, to create all the housing we can.”
What is your plea to voters on why they should care and inform themselves about local races like this one?
Adkins, again, pointed to his ongoing work as commissioner.
“As commissioner — we, the board — do work with different groups,” Adkins said. He mentioned potential future projects; and ongoing work in Albany, its sewer project and its business park, as well as ongoing work with the Athens County Port Authority.
“I will continue working with the different groups and bring in all the jobs we can bring in,” Adkins said.
Rose expressed that national politics begin locally.
“We’re citizens of Athens county first, so if we can make actual, real, sustainable changes here, it will create more changes up the road,” Rose said.
How do you think county services can play a bigger role in the villages and townships of Athens County?
Rose said that while running for office, “I’ve had the absolute pleasure of being able to speak with people in different villages and townships and cities, and a lot of times they feel alienated. They feel left out in the cold. Their voices aren’t being heard for one reason or another.”
He expressed a need for the commissioners’ office “to be open, needs to be transparent.”
Adkins said he’s “out in the villages, I’m out into townships.” He again referenced his work as a commissioner, specifically touching on American Rescue Plan Act funding.
What is the county commissioner job?
Adkins said the county commissioners oversee budgeting for the county and its offices.
Commissioners also sit on boards as county representatives; Adkins represents Athens County on the board of the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail, which he mentioned as a large county expense — $2 million annually. He also oversees issues related to Athens County 911 and emergency medical services.
Rose agreed that commissioners have fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities to the county.
“There’s a lot of great work that needs to be done,” Rose said. “We need fresh ideas. We need new people. We need new perspectives on old situations and new situations.”
In response to Adkins’ mentioning the jail, Rose said, “Maybe there’s a better way to treat people with addiction or mental health or other issues, than putting them in a regional jail. So we could work out spending money to help the actual problems that led people to be incarcerated, as opposed to paying money for beds and meals that maybe they don’t need.”
An inquiry to Athens County Auditor Jill Davidson verified that the county budgeted around $2.2 million in jail expenses this year. She noted that the county does not pay for a set number of beds monthly or annually, “we only pay our per diem share.”
According to the Ohio Revised Code, county commissioners oversee numerous issues; they are the administrative bodies of counties.
According to Davidson, the annual salary for a county commissioner this year is $72,340.
What can be done about mental health issues in Athens County?
Rose said that working as a paramedic, “I’ve seen people in some of the worst situations.”
Rose then referred to a former “mental health crisis team,” a county program that recently ended. Rose expressed dismay over the end of the program. He said the commissioners chose to end the program — which the board did, alongside other involved parties. He also said the program was grant-funded; it was not, Adkins said.
According to a memorandum of understanding obtained by the Independent via public records request, the program began in July 2023 and was slated to end in June 2024. The MOU was between the Athens-Hocking-Vinton 317 Board and Athens County Emergency Medical Services.
The program was also a partnership with Hopewell Health Centers. According to an email thread regarding the termination of the program, obtained by public records request, it was a pilot project.
Adkins said it was a mutual decision to conclude the pilot program, which the aforementioned email thread verified. “The commissioners didn’t kill the program,” he said. “The program was [on] a one-year trial basis.”
The Ohio Department of Criminal Justice Services recently announced a $175,000 grant to the 317 board to form a mobile crisis response team to divert those experiencing a behavioral crisis away from jail.
The crisis team is not the only thing the county needs to address mental health issues, Rose said.
“We also need more inpatient treatment for the most vulnerable among us,” Rose said. “Here in the county, there’s a lot of work that can be done. A lot of the work that needs to be done. These are humans with families and loved ones. We need to treat them as humans and not just as a condition.”
What can you do to help people from outlying areas to get access to town and to jobs if they don’t currently have personal transportation?
Adkins pointed to the county’s newly approved active transportation plan. He noted that he does not want to raise taxes to expand transportation; expansion has occurred without raising taxes.
“We need to increase it for Coolville and the Glouster area,” Adkins said. “When I talked to the people today that put this all together, them communities has got to come together and say, ‘We want this, we want to help, we need this out in our area.’”
Rose agreed that transportation is a huge issue for people in rural parts of the county, such as in Glouster.
“One of the huge things that I hear people say is, ‘We need transportation,’” Rose said. “We need reliable transportation. If all of the jobs are centered in Athens, and the people in the fringes of the county can’t get to Athens to work, we are doing zero service to them.”
What do you see as a commissioner’s role in the implementation of our area’s solid waste district plan?
Rose said that options for curbside recycling and composting are limited for rural residents.
“Because if I want to utilize the recycling in the county, I have to either load up in the back of my SUV and haul it 5 to 10 minutes into town and drop it off at a bin, or it just doesn’t get done; same with composting,” Rose said. “There’s no compost pickup out in Glouster, so I need to haul it into Athens and make a conscious effort on my own. So if we want to make it accessible to everybody in the county, we need to make it accessible to everybody in the county.”
Adkins noted that state law requires the county to reduce waste by 25% through its 15-year solid waste management plans. He said the county board of commissioners support the local “recycling center,” once Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers, Inc., now operated by the Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal council of governments.
“We plan to do everything we can to continue keeping the recycling center in Athens, Ohio,” Adkins said. “I believe if we don’t keep the recycling center, then we’re going to lose recycling, we’re going to lose composting.”
How do you feel about the county’s role in the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia, also known as Bailey’s trail system?
Adkins, who was the county’s ORCA rep until Oct. 16, said ORCA is “a good thing.”
Earlier this year, the county declined to pay its $90,000 membership fee; on Oct. 16, ORCA announced a fee restructuring.
Adkins said the county is not meant to support the project at an annual $90,000 level forever; only the past three years.
“I will support the Baileys Trail,” Adkins said. “They have to be able to get on their own, like any other government entity. We don’t do that for other COGs, and they need to get on their own.”
Rose said ORCA needs “our support.”
“Money can be made from the Baileys Trail if we help the village of Chauncey to support local businesses, mom-and-pops, bicycle shops, Airbnbs, affordable like short-term rentals, all sorts of stuff,” Rose said. “We could turn Chancey and the Baileys Trail into this just beacon of hope in the county, and then other small towns and villages might see the same thing.”
Rose said the former $90,000 fee “seems reasonable to me, and especially to the community that it sits in. If this was in Athens, I think it would be a whole different conversation. But since it’s not in Athens and it’s in Chauncey, I believe that they are more dismissive of the money being spent.”
Would you entertain a countywide plastic bag ban?
Rose said he didn’t know if he’d support a countywide plastic bag ban. He noted that the ban is only in Athens.
In August, Court of Common Pleas Judge George McCarthy struck down the city’s ban, following a suit filed by Secretary of State Dave Yost. The case is now pending before the Fourth District Court of Appeals.
Adkins said he would not support a countywide plastic bag ban.
“We don’t have a countywide group that can enforce that,” Adkins said. “I hope people will continue to take their own bags throughout the county, and I would encourage that … but I would not mandate, come up with a law that takes that away from people.”
How do you envision maintaining local businesses and expanding local businesses as well as keeping residents here in the county?
Adkins mentioned future potential projects he is exploring in the Albany area.
“I work every day — I take calls to continue helping, supporting and so that’s what I’m doing now, is working with groups to bring them type of jobs into Athens, and I will continue doing that,” Adkins said.
Rose described Athens County as unique, and pointed to its institutional educational assets, as well as the Athens County Land Bank.
“What we need to do is just connect the dots for all of those and bring everything together. Instead of having all these separate ideas, if we can find a way to just make them all work, we can help expand local businesses,” Rose said.
Have you considered any other alternatives to solving the failing septic system problem, other than doing a sewer expansion project, given the cost to residents?
Rose said sewer is a huge issue county wide.
“Septic tanks work when they work; same way with sewer systems,” Rose said. “Septic tanks have worked great for a long time, as long as you stay on top of inspection.”
Rose suggested that the county fund septic tank inspections “as opposed to spending tens of millions of dollars on sewer systems that communities don’t necessarily want or need.” He also noted that tying into a sewer system is mandated by state law (if the sewer is within 200 feet of the dwelling), and sometimes costs homeowners upwards of $10,000.
“I couldn’t do it; I don’t have $10,000 just lying around,” Rose said. “I don’t want to refinance my house to try to get $10,000 to tie into it. I feel like there should have been other options.”
Adkins said the county has held public hearings for sewer projects in Millfield and New Marshfield. He said septic tanks would not fit in New Marshfield homes.
“If you go out there, you’ll smell the sewage,” Adkins said of New Marshfield. “You’ll see it in the ditches. You’ll see it coming down the drain.”
Adkins said the county also held a public meeting in the Guysville/Stewart area. At first, he said, “Those people didn’t like it. Most of the people, when we got done, did like it.”
Adkins also pointed to sewer connection assistance funds available through the health department.
What are your top two issues going forward as commissioner, they’re kind of the top two things that are on your mind that you want to see addressed. How would you address each of those?
Adkins pointed to the carceral system in Athens County as his first issue.
“One thing is, we’re putting a lot of people in jail,” Adkins said. “Our jail bill is about $170,000 a month, over $2 million a year, we pay in the regional for housing inmates, so we need to work on some programs to try to get them a little bit more help.”
Adkins added, “The problem is, it’s the same people, over and over and over. They go to rehab. We send them to different places to get health. They’re clean for a few months, and here they come back doing the same thing.”
Adkins also pointed to the cost of hiring public defenders. “We owe them representation, because they’re going to jail, so we need to continue doing that,” he said.
Adkins’ second issue was housing, noting that people are living unsheltered in and outside of the city.
“We need to look at helping the homeless out there and getting them some decent places, and continue working with these business owners to improve and fix their facilities so they can bring more jobs in Athens County,” he said.
Rose pointed to “the cost of living in Athens County.”
“It’s getting harder and harder to live here,” Rose said. “Things will cost them more and more money, and in doing that, introducing new businesses, encouraging the growth of existing businesses, and with that, they can increase wages, which can help people actually afford to live here. We have again, resources on hand. We have smart people who want to work, who want to help, who want to do great things. We just need to connect all the dots.
Rose said his experience working as a paramedic for Athens County EMS prompted his run for office — especially in regards to wages.
“If you can travel an hour up the road to work and make double what you’re making now, there’s nothing keeping these people here, other than a sense of duty,” Rose said. “And I can’t feed my kids on a sense of duty.”
Do you feel that the commissioners have a role in educating citizens of the options and consequences of decisions, such as the recent failure of the parcel fees and likely increased costs that will occur for many area residents.
Rose said, “Yes.” He noted that commissioners meetings are on Tuesdays during the day, which makes them less accessible to people who may be working at the same time.
“But if we are making decisions that are going to impact the lives of the people who live here, then we should make every effort to educate these people — our people, our neighbors, our friends, our loved ones,” Rose said. “People need to know what’s happening in the county.”
Adkins said educating the public is “the reason the commissioners have public hearings.” However, for certain projects, public hearings are sometimes required by state law.
Adkins cited public hearings for sewer projects, as well as those held for the failed solid waste district parcel fee. He also noted that commissioners meetings are available via Zoom.
Appalachian Ohio is home to the highest suicide rates in the state. As a commissioner, how would you approach this epidemic?
According to Ohio Department of Health data, Appalachian Ohio does have some of the highest suicide rates in the state.
Adkins said there have been recent suicides in Athens County. The Independent’s request for records from the Athens-City County Health Department for 2024 deaths by suicide is pending.
“It’s terrible with people with suicides,” Adkins said. He said that the sheriff’s office “blue slip
folks every day,” and that it sees many individuals in crisis are repeatedly in need of help.
“Blue slip” refers to emergency medical hospitalization; “pink slip” is the correct term.
“But you get them to the facility, the hospital, and, like I say before, before they leave the building, they’ve released them to go back,” Adkins said. He pointed to “continue supporting the phone system that people can call in, supporting the sheriff’s office and the deputies that go out on these things, and continue educating our EMS system to hopefully deal with some of these issues.”
According to Brynne Morris of the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, the sheriff’s office has carried out 235 involuntary hospitalizations so far this year.
Rose said that as a paramedic, he has seen firsthand “the devastating consequences of suicide for a full whole family, for communities.” He said that “bullying” is an issue across the county, for children and adults. Adkins and Rose both noted that law enforcement sometimes responds to mental health crises.
“They’re phenomenal human beings, but they are not trained mental health professionals,” Rose said. “We had that in the county, and we don’t anymore. That’s a disservice to everybody. We can do better. We must do better. We will do better.”
The national 988 Lifeline is available via call or text for people and their loved ones in Athens County.
Closing statements
Adkins pointed to accomplishments as a commissioner, including increased wages for ACEMS employees, as well as development in ACEMS employee training opportunities. He also urged support for Issue 20, a levy for ACEMS.
“My office door is always open,” Adkins said. “You’ll see me out on the street sitting on the bench in front of the courthouse. People come up and have discussions with me. That’s the way I can communicate.”
Rose began his statement by pointing to Adkins’ position as an incumbent: “The definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. If my opponent is reelected, we’ll have the same mess that we’re in now for four more years. It’s time for change. I’m ready. I’m ready to listen. I’m ready to work hard, and I’m ready to fight for Athens County.”
Rose then issued a list for his top goals:
- Addressing cost of living in Athens County and “work to bring costs down and provide total budget transparency.”
- “I will track new businesses and higher paying jobs.”
- Supporting small businesses.
- “Support the creation of more recreational activities. Our local youth are isolated, bored and addicted to screens. We don’t have places to hang out anymore. We can offer them excitement and community outside of social media.”
- Address bullying in Athens County schools.
- Raise wages for ACEMS employees and “offer other critically necessary support for their health and safety.”
- Expand public transportation.
- “Encourage and support others to run for local offices. Athens needs new ideas and new enthusiasm.”
- Listening to constituents.
Voter information
Election Day is Nov. 5. Early voting is currently underway. Find more information on voting, refer to the Athens County Board of Elections.
Forum questions have been paraphrased for clarity. Watch the YouTube video for a full look at the forum and the candidate’s responses.
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