DeWine Makes Several Local Campaign Stops | News, Sports, Jobs – Wheeling Intelligencer
Photo by Robert A. DeFrank
Gov. Mike DeWine visits with Belmont County residents and officials at the Newellstown Diner in St. Clairsville on Tuesday.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign trail included several stops in the Ohio Valley on Tuesday.
DeWine — a Republican facing Democratic candidate Nan Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton, on Nov. 8 — and First Lady Fran DeWine dropped by the Newellstown Diner in St Clairsville, met with local leaders at Timi’s Diner in Cadiz and also stopped in Woodsfield.
In St. Clairsville, questions about the Appalachian Community Grant Program, which will infuse $500 million into Ohio’s 32-county Appalachian region for community-led projects, topped the discussion.
“We’re now in the state where communities are working together and thinking,” DeWine said, adding the funds are available in two stages with grants available to help communities plan projects and more grants to enact them. “We think it’s really brought some excitement to our 32 Appalachian counties, a lot of collaboration and a lot of thinking. We’re already seeing people look at their downtown in a different way.”
DeWine emphasized investing in rural Ohio, not just the larger cities such as Columbus and Cleveland.
He said businesses such as the Intel chip manufacturing plant coming to Franklin County should also provide wider opportunities.
Jennifer McMillen, administrative assistant at the city building, said her daughter is learning how to assemble chips at Belmont College. DeWine said JobsOhio is a resource that gives Ohio a competitive edge in matching jobs with job seekers and noted that Bob Smith, who chairs the JobsOhio board, is a Cadiz native.
St. Clairsville Recreation Director Eric Gay said the city hopes to use Appalachian funding to develop the park. Plans also include renovating an abandoned building into an arts center. “We’re all committed to seeing St. Clairsville have a very bright future,” Mayor Kathryn Thalman said.
DeWine said the state legislature could remove the upper limit for the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program.
“If we can do that, I think you’re going to see in older communities like St. Clairsville it’s going to be economically viable (to restore and reuse older buildings),” he said.
“This would serve a lot of people,” Thalman said.
In Cadiz, Harrison County officials presented DeWine with a $30,000 check to support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program.
More than a dozen local officials including state Sen. Frank Hoagland, R-Mingo Junction, Harrison County Commissioner Paul Coffland, Commissioner Amy Norris, Prosecutor Lauren Knight, Department of Job and Family Services Director Deb Knight, Auditor Allison M. Anderson, Cadiz Mayor John Migliore, Cadiz Village Administrator Brandon Ludwig and more were there to greet him at the informal event at Timi’s. DeWine made his way around the room greeting both officials and patrons of the restaurant, making time to chat, shake hands and take photos with everyone.
“I wanted to stop here to check, frankly, on how things are coming in regard to the jail,” DeWine said. “I know that’s been an issue here and we were able to get them some money, so I wanted to talk with commissioners about that. Really this is just about what I do a lot and it’s just to go out and meet with county officials, listen, meet with the mayor, meet with officials in the community and really find out what’s going on, what they need, what we can do to be of help.”
In response to a question posed about what concerns he has heard from residents, DeWine said inflation is a “huge problem” and jobs.
“We’re moving in Ohio. We’re moving forward, we’re creating jobs at a very fast rate but a big challenge is to make sure every Ohioan has the ability to live up to their God given ability. I’ve spent a lot of time going around to our high school career centers – they’re doing a phenomenal job and working much closer than they ever have with local businesses. The goal should be that when you graduate from high school, you’re on some kind of path to college or it might be a pathway into the trades, apprenticeship, all kinds of different things,” he said, adding that he believes that’s a goal that is shared by residents in the community.
“They want their kids to stay here, they want their kids to have jobs,” he added. “They want their kids to have the skills they need to be able to get those jobs and hold those jobs.”
DeWine said that most people want to continue living where they grew up, so long as there are jobs to sustain them.
“So what we have to do is to continue to create jobs in the state. … We’re located in the heart of everything, so we have a lot of things going for us. But what we have to do is create an emphasis on education, early childhood education, prenatal care, postnatal care home visit programs for moms who are having difficulties. We’re expanding all those in Ohio,” he said.