Heaton seeks second term on county commission
Lead Summary
By
-
Making the best use of limited funds, and not shying away from making difficult decisions is the job of an experienced leader, according to incumbent candidate for Highland County Commissioner Gary Heaton.
In his first term in office, the Democrat says he has proved his ability to make those decisions and keep in mind what is best for Highland County.
Heaton grew up in the Mowrystown area, graduating from Whiteoak High School in 1966. He worked at Frigidaire and was a Sgt. in the U.S. Army during Vietnam. During his time in the military, Heaton received various medals, including the Bronze Star. He joined the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 1971 and worked as a resident trooper in Highland County, based out of the Wilmington OSHP Post until his retirement in 2002.
Heaton faces Republican Jeremy Shaffer in the Nov. 2 general election.
“My wife, Edith, and I have been married 39 years,” Heaton said. “We live in Belfast and raised four kids down there. They are all adults now and graduated from high school at Whiteoak. They all have college degrees and are out on their own. One of the proudest moments as a parent is when you see all your kids get out and be successes. At one time we had three kids in college one year. That was hard on our budget, and state troopers didn’t make a whole lot. But we were willing to make it work, and felt that there were sacrifices worth making (so all the children could obtain college degrees).”
Heaton also has four grandchildren.
He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the AMVETS, American Legion, Lions Club, Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is a lifelong member of the Peace Lutheran Church near Georgetown where he is a lecturer and usher. He is also actively involved in organizing youth sports in Highland County.
Heaton said he feels he was able to follow through on many of his goals for his first term, particularly in making the commissioners’ office accessible to the people of Highland County. However, he said some goals had to take a back seat after DHL announced that they would be reducing domestic operations and eliminating thousands of jobs in the area, thus profoundly impacting the revenue for Highland County.
“Things drastically changed for us in May 2008 with the DHL announcement,” Heaton said. “When I first came into office, my goal was to have the office of the county commissioners be more accessible. If people have a question and want to come up here, they are welcome, and they will get an answer to that question.”
The commissioners have faced tough choices, Heaton said, over the last few years, but he feels he has always tried to keep in mind what is best for the residents of Highland County.
“When we started in 2008 with some of the problems we were facing and that were going to be ahead of us, we had to look where we could make cuts to our budget,” Heaton said. “We didn’t review some of the service contracts, and in 2009 when the revenue shortfall really hit us we had to really start some drastic cutting. Some of the goals I had when I came into office – because of financial problems – had to be put aside for the time being. We were worried with getting the county back to good financial footing. I think we are on that road today. Great improvements have been made in the past year, but that came at a price. We lost a lot of good people (to layoffs) but they were necessary cuts. We cut everywhere we could besides personnel, and we had to save that for last.”
Heaton said making personnel cuts was a difficult, but necessary decision.
“I value the employees,” he said. “They are the ones who really make the county go. It’s a difficult decision because it involved people, and all three of us had come to know them, knew their families, and had become friends. It’s never easy when you’re dealing with people’s lives. When you work in a big city or big county - the Hamilton County or Montgomery County commissioners, I doubt they have the same kind of contact we do with our employees on a daily basis. You never take any decision like that lightly. You know it is going to effect them in an adverse way, especially in today’s economy when money is so tight.”
Heaton said that among some of his goals he was not able to fulfill is making increases to the Highland County Sheriff’s Office. “I think that when I came into office I made some promises I was able to keep. But, one of my greatest disappointments is, because of the economy, we weren’t able to provide the sheriff’s office with more road deputies to go toward protecting the people of the county. They do an excellent job considering the situation they find themselves in.”
The primary function of the board of commissioners, Heaton said, is to balance the budget.
“As county commissioners, all we really deal with is the budgetary problems,” Heaton said. “We are administrators. We can’t make laws. We’re not a legislative body. Everything comes back to financials.”
Outside of taking care of the budget, Heaton said “We would like to have new businesses come in, but we have to really concentrate on the businesses we do have. We need to see them really thriving, and see if we can help them grow, what difficulties they are facing that we might be able to help with.
“Another big thing is how we can better promote Highland County, as a place for entrepreneurs to come and start a small business,” Heaton said. “The key to that is getting widespread, dependable Wi-Fi because a lot of business is done on the Internet now, and we need high-speed Internet for these people. We need to show people that this is a very desirable place to live. We have a very low crime rate, a very low cost of living. We are not that far away from three major metropolitan areas.”
Heaton said he feels that the current board of commissioners, which includes Republicans Tom Horst and Shane Wilkin, is strong because of their ability to work well together and to listen to each other.
“I don’t think any commission in recent times has had to deal with the same situation. When I first came into office our budget was $12 million. This year we had to work on a budget of $8.5 million. When people talk fiscal sanity and fiscal restraint, I think this board has worked very hard using the taxpayers’ dollars we had, to the best of our ability, in the best and most economical way.”
Heaton said there is a reason that lots of people native to Highland County come back locally to retire, and hopes that one day there will be enough good jobs to entice younger generations to stay local.
“One of greatest things you can do is go back and give to your community,” he said. “My parents instilled in me that you should give back to the community, be a good neighbor and a good citizen of your county. It really disappoints me we can’t create the kind of jobs with the kind of pay so that when kids come out of college (they can stay locally). There are so many people who after they go and have their careers, they come back here, because this is where they want to retire.”
Heaton said he feels his record as a public servant speaks for itself, and he hopes that voters will remember his leadership when they cast their vote on Nov. 2.
“I hope when voters go to the polls they look at what I’ve done here in the four years I have been elected,” Heaton said. “I hope voters will look to the experience I have. I have been involved in public service since I was 19. I don’t think it’s something you stay with very long unless you enjoy working with people. I hope they will look to my experience in the past, and see what leadership I can give them into the future.”[[In-content Ad]]
In his first term in office, the Democrat says he has proved his ability to make those decisions and keep in mind what is best for Highland County.
Heaton grew up in the Mowrystown area, graduating from Whiteoak High School in 1966. He worked at Frigidaire and was a Sgt. in the U.S. Army during Vietnam. During his time in the military, Heaton received various medals, including the Bronze Star. He joined the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 1971 and worked as a resident trooper in Highland County, based out of the Wilmington OSHP Post until his retirement in 2002.
Heaton faces Republican Jeremy Shaffer in the Nov. 2 general election.
“My wife, Edith, and I have been married 39 years,” Heaton said. “We live in Belfast and raised four kids down there. They are all adults now and graduated from high school at Whiteoak. They all have college degrees and are out on their own. One of the proudest moments as a parent is when you see all your kids get out and be successes. At one time we had three kids in college one year. That was hard on our budget, and state troopers didn’t make a whole lot. But we were willing to make it work, and felt that there were sacrifices worth making (so all the children could obtain college degrees).”
Heaton also has four grandchildren.
He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the AMVETS, American Legion, Lions Club, Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is a lifelong member of the Peace Lutheran Church near Georgetown where he is a lecturer and usher. He is also actively involved in organizing youth sports in Highland County.
Heaton said he feels he was able to follow through on many of his goals for his first term, particularly in making the commissioners’ office accessible to the people of Highland County. However, he said some goals had to take a back seat after DHL announced that they would be reducing domestic operations and eliminating thousands of jobs in the area, thus profoundly impacting the revenue for Highland County.
“Things drastically changed for us in May 2008 with the DHL announcement,” Heaton said. “When I first came into office, my goal was to have the office of the county commissioners be more accessible. If people have a question and want to come up here, they are welcome, and they will get an answer to that question.”
The commissioners have faced tough choices, Heaton said, over the last few years, but he feels he has always tried to keep in mind what is best for the residents of Highland County.
“When we started in 2008 with some of the problems we were facing and that were going to be ahead of us, we had to look where we could make cuts to our budget,” Heaton said. “We didn’t review some of the service contracts, and in 2009 when the revenue shortfall really hit us we had to really start some drastic cutting. Some of the goals I had when I came into office – because of financial problems – had to be put aside for the time being. We were worried with getting the county back to good financial footing. I think we are on that road today. Great improvements have been made in the past year, but that came at a price. We lost a lot of good people (to layoffs) but they were necessary cuts. We cut everywhere we could besides personnel, and we had to save that for last.”
Heaton said making personnel cuts was a difficult, but necessary decision.
“I value the employees,” he said. “They are the ones who really make the county go. It’s a difficult decision because it involved people, and all three of us had come to know them, knew their families, and had become friends. It’s never easy when you’re dealing with people’s lives. When you work in a big city or big county - the Hamilton County or Montgomery County commissioners, I doubt they have the same kind of contact we do with our employees on a daily basis. You never take any decision like that lightly. You know it is going to effect them in an adverse way, especially in today’s economy when money is so tight.”
Heaton said that among some of his goals he was not able to fulfill is making increases to the Highland County Sheriff’s Office. “I think that when I came into office I made some promises I was able to keep. But, one of my greatest disappointments is, because of the economy, we weren’t able to provide the sheriff’s office with more road deputies to go toward protecting the people of the county. They do an excellent job considering the situation they find themselves in.”
The primary function of the board of commissioners, Heaton said, is to balance the budget.
“As county commissioners, all we really deal with is the budgetary problems,” Heaton said. “We are administrators. We can’t make laws. We’re not a legislative body. Everything comes back to financials.”
Outside of taking care of the budget, Heaton said “We would like to have new businesses come in, but we have to really concentrate on the businesses we do have. We need to see them really thriving, and see if we can help them grow, what difficulties they are facing that we might be able to help with.
“Another big thing is how we can better promote Highland County, as a place for entrepreneurs to come and start a small business,” Heaton said. “The key to that is getting widespread, dependable Wi-Fi because a lot of business is done on the Internet now, and we need high-speed Internet for these people. We need to show people that this is a very desirable place to live. We have a very low crime rate, a very low cost of living. We are not that far away from three major metropolitan areas.”
Heaton said he feels that the current board of commissioners, which includes Republicans Tom Horst and Shane Wilkin, is strong because of their ability to work well together and to listen to each other.
“I don’t think any commission in recent times has had to deal with the same situation. When I first came into office our budget was $12 million. This year we had to work on a budget of $8.5 million. When people talk fiscal sanity and fiscal restraint, I think this board has worked very hard using the taxpayers’ dollars we had, to the best of our ability, in the best and most economical way.”
Heaton said there is a reason that lots of people native to Highland County come back locally to retire, and hopes that one day there will be enough good jobs to entice younger generations to stay local.
“One of greatest things you can do is go back and give to your community,” he said. “My parents instilled in me that you should give back to the community, be a good neighbor and a good citizen of your county. It really disappoints me we can’t create the kind of jobs with the kind of pay so that when kids come out of college (they can stay locally). There are so many people who after they go and have their careers, they come back here, because this is where they want to retire.”
Heaton said he feels his record as a public servant speaks for itself, and he hopes that voters will remember his leadership when they cast their vote on Nov. 2.
“I hope when voters go to the polls they look at what I’ve done here in the four years I have been elected,” Heaton said. “I hope voters will look to the experience I have. I have been involved in public service since I was 19. I don’t think it’s something you stay with very long unless you enjoy working with people. I hope they will look to my experience in the past, and see what leadership I can give them into the future.”[[In-content Ad]]