Daniels brings education, business experience to city administration WATCH THE VIDEO

A founder of small business, a member of the military and current member of the Hillsboro City Council, Rod Daniels says that his educational and business background give him the experience Hillsboro needs in the office of mayor to bring in jobs and development opportunities. 

 The 44-year-old Ward 2 council member is facing Drew Hastings and Terry Mikkelsen in the May 3 Republican primary election. The winner will face Independent candidate John Levo in the November general election. 

 Daniels said he knows what it's like to start a small business and knows what a business needs in order to have sound footing to create success. 

 "I've been involved in the community for quite some time," Daniels said. "I've taught for probably about 15 years now. I have also owned a business for probably about 20 years. I'm in the military. I've served with the 15th psychological operations out of Cincinnati, an excellent unit down there. I really enjoyed being a part of it. I'm heavily involved in my local church. I play drums for the Back Porch, which is the contemporary service at the First United Methodist Church."

 Daniels graduated from Peebles High School before going to Wilmington College, where he majored in computer science and management and later focused most of his studies in the management area.   

 "I went to work - started my own company back in 1991 and was involved in that for a number of years," Daniels said. "I decided I wanted to go back and get my master's at Franklin University out of Columbus. I also focused in management in my MBA with an emphasis on information systems. I really enjoyed graduate school. A lot of my graduate work was done online, and part of my team members were scattered throughout the United States, so we would collaborate. I became a certified business analyst through Capital University when I was working with the Ohio Department of Development. I've had a lot of educational background."

 The business he founded, Daniels Construction and Restoration, specialized in residential and commercial business construction, he said. Over the years, Daniels said the company brought in approximately $200,000 a year for a total of "more than $4 million in sales right here in the city of Hillsboro. We would work some outside the area," but Daniels said liked to work with other local Highland County companies. 

 "That's $4 million circulating through the community," Daniels said. "A lot of local subcontractors, drywallers, electricians, plumbers."

When Daniels went into the Army Reserves, he said that he turned control of the business over to his father. 

 Daniels said he is taking time off as an adjunct faculty member at Southern State Community College while he is campaigning for the primary election and that he has training with the Army Reserves coming. Though his responsibilities with the reserves keep him busy, Daniels said that it will not interfere with his ability to be a good leader in the city of Hillsboro. 

 "I can't guarantee how things are going," Daniels said. "Right now, overseas, things actually seem to be stabilized. I just received an email today where they were talking about how things were stabilizing. Hopefully that will continue, and we'll pull troops back from overseas. I'd like to see that happen. But you never know. The world is really an unstable place. That being the case, there's still that possibility where I could be called away, but I personally don't see it with my local unit. But that's true with anything. You could go to work and have a heart attack or anything. Nobody knows. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go to work because those risks exist."

 Daniels said that should he be called away, he would rely on his safety and service director to make sure that city business continues to function smoothly. 

 When it comes to the development of Hillsboro and bringing jobs into the area, Daniels said that his educational and business experience are "an excellent match."

 "The reason why I would say that is because if you look at employment in the city of Hillsboro, male and female over the last 10 years, the majority of it has been in manufacturing, around 14 percent. Probably around 13 percent has been in construction trades, and then it starts trickling down, retail sales and so forth. But, one, with my construction background, understanding that industry pretty in-depthly, working with the Ohio Department of Development being exposed to manufacturer-type operations and going in and assisting businesses and trying to help them improve their businesses ... there's two dominant industries that give me a lot of insight into how they operate. I think that can aid me when I start looking at, as a city, how we can assist these businesses in expanding. Knowing what the business needs when they come to an area:  We have to have the infrastructure, what does it take to build the business as far as the building and construction side of it as far as the facilities, and then the support of those facilities with our water and sewer department, our fire, our police. How can we enhance that environment for those businesses? I think my background has really prepared me to fulfill that role as mayor."

 Daniels said that he is proud of his service on the Hillsboro City Council, and that he has been a part of some big projects the city has seen in the last few years. aniels was appointed to council in the fall of 2008 after Charlie Walker resigned as Ward 2 councilman, and he was elected in 2009. He spent several months away from serving on council last year while he was in training with the Army Reserves. 

 "With city council, it's kind of a unique position, because you're one of the eight people there," Daniels said. "You get input, but that's just one vote out of the whole team of people. So I can't take credit, saying, 'I've done this ...' because it wasn't just me. Things happened within the city over the past few years since I've been on council. It has been a collaborative effort of every person on council if something is passed or didn't pass.."

 There were areas in the city that needed to change, Daniels said, and that helped spark his interest in becoming further involved.

  "The reason I got involved in city council in the first place is because I saw (in) the city of Hillsboro, we had the fire office in the middle of the street uptown, and I wanted to see that changed," Daniels said. "That kind of spurred my initial interest. Then I started seeing some other things I'd like to see changed. Since that time I've been involved with getting the trailer out of the center of town - and again, I'm saying I'm one vote. I've been involved with the construction of the new fire house, which I think is a nice facility which should aid us in hiring some really well-trained staff if we need it to in the future, or to maintain the staff we have. It's always nicer to come to work if you have a nice facility. I think that's kind of a recruitment tool for different positions."

 When it comes to the current city government, Daniels said that there has been difficulty in getting everyone to move in the same direction. 

 "I think we have a lot of individuals who are very well educated on city council," Daniels said. "Some of the issues is not so much the individuals, but getting everybody to move in the same direction. Everybody being on the same page, I think that could add more to the city than anything else. If we could get away from some of the tug of wars that might happen in-house, and be more focused on everyone trying to come up with some type of solution. Because you can have small groups, not really large influential people, but they can make a big successes if they are all pulling in the same direction. And that's kind of my hope, going into (the office of the) mayor, 'How can we help get the city to where we are all trying to move in the same direction?' so we're not just spinning our wheels."

 Daniels cited the recent issue over the township EMS contracts as an example, saying that if everyone were working together toward the same goals, the citizens would benefit. 

 "Imagine if we could take that energy that all those people are putting forth right now and actually try to achieve something in the same direction," Daniels said. "I mean, it's wasted energy from what I see. We're in hard economic times. A lot of people are feeling it, and if we could take all that energy and actually put it to use in a positive way, I think we could turn the city around rather quickly."

 Talking to people, understanding their point of view, and "planting seeds" of your own viewpoint is necessary in getting people to work together, he said.  

 "I've learned one thing since I've been in business: You can't do everything yourself," Daniels said. "It takes a team effort. And you also can't force people to do things they don't want to do. You can guide them, but really that individual is the one that's taking the risk. You have to understand that about people in a management role."

 Daniels said that although operations are similar, there are big differences in government and private businesses and how they work, for instance that while business focuses on profit, government also has to focus "on the humanitarian side." 

 "You want to make sure you're serving the people," Daniels said. "It's kind of like some of my other work I've done through non-profits through different organizations, Rotary, and those types of organizations. I think that transparency should come with helping to showcase the results that the city is making. I see a lot of different aspects in the city taking place. Sometimes when you're real close to a situation you can see things happening, but when you're outside you assume that nothing is happening because you don't see anything happening. Any achievement that happens within the city, whether it be employees, things that they're doing ... needs to be showcased. Actually show the public what's happening, and I think you'll get a better response from the public if they can see results of what their tax dollars are actually achieving."

 Through the process of the mayoral campaign, Daniels said that he started a perception survey for Hillsboro residents, to listen to their concerns. One major area of concern, he said, is the potholes and condition of the city streets, as well as quality police and fire protection. 

 When voters go to the polls, Daniels said that he hopes they take his business experience into consideration, as well as his overall concern for Hillsboro residents. 

 "They should vote for me because of my experience, my insight into some of the primary industries that are within the city limits at this time, my concern for the people," Daniels said.