‘All Ohio must rise’

By Sherry Larson

People’s Defender

The March primary is right around the corner, and before Christmas and in the past weeks, a trio of Ohio politicians visited Adams County to share their platforms and answer questions.

Gina Collinsworth from Scioto County is running for State Representative for the 90th District. She is running against incumbent Justin Pizzulli and Timothy Wheeler. Collinsworth visited the Adams County Townships’ meeting on January 8.

Collinsworth describes herself as pro-God, life, gun, family, and Trump. She is an economic development professional and lifelong fiscal conservative who is “focused on growing Ohio’s economy, improving the quality of education for our youth, and protecting faith, families, and freedom.”

Growing up and working in the 1970s at the family’s General Store near Blue Creek, Collinsworth is nostalgic about the people she met and loved. She said, “My heart is in our area.”

In 2018, she became interested in politics. Collinsworth was working with Dr. Terry Johnson, our state representative at the time and now our state senator. Johnson was working on addiction issues in their community and Collinsworth with community development. She said, “You’re always looking at problems, solutions, and opportunities.” Currently working for the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission, she explained that a goal is always to bring resources to our part of the state. She said, “We connect local stakeholders like commissioners, township trustees, village mayors, nonprofit groups like hospitals, and we connect them to resources available through grant money and federal and state organizations.” Collinsworth knows where the money is, and she wants to get it for our community.

Collinsworth describes herself as experienced and community-minded. She has a Master’s Degree in Communications. She said, “That’s where I’ve done a lot of my work – trying to communicate with people, trying to do development, which is grant writing and funding opportunities – bring it down to the community.”

Broadband is also high on Collinsworth’s list of priorities. She said, “I think broadband is the highway to the future.” She works daily to promote infrastructure and economic development. She said, “We’re very family-oriented down here,” and explained that with more jobs available, our children wouldn’t have to leave the area for employment. Collinsworth said many people have given up opportunities to stay here and, “We don’t want that for our kids.”

Collinsworth believes that trust is one of the most critical attributes she brings to the table. She said, “You can’t tell one thing here and another thing somewhere else. I commit strongly to telling everybody the truth.” She continued, “I’m very optimistic about our future in southern Ohio. I love it here, and I believe that good things are ahead, and I’m ready to help us connect to all those great opportunities.”

Ohio District 90 Representative Justin Pizzulli visited the township’s meeting in December, making a quick stop on his way to Columbus. Pizzulli is from Franklin Furnace and described his over 10,000 hours of community involvement in Scioto County, from selling houses to being a commercial break conductor at the Portsmouth Yard.

Pizzulli said he’s making his rounds at trustee meetings and “soaking up your concerns.” He said, “I’m taking them to heart and getting a grip on the challenges that you’re facing.” He continued, “I get it – you’re asking for cash – you need money – you need resources. You’re worried about the nature conservatory (conservancy) taking hold over this whole dang County. Later in his speech, he shared a meeting with the Nature Conservancy to address concerns. He said, “We did have some hard conversations.” He continued, “You’re sick and tired of the sketchy drug houses, the recovery houses popping up all over the place. I hear you loud and clear – and I couldn’t agree more.”

Explaining that he has “rallied together the troops in Columbus,” Pizzulli announced the first-ever Appalachia caucus that will consist of all state representatives from southern Ohio. “The goal is to put southern Ohio first.”

Pizzulli said he put House Bill 272 in our budget to license and regulate recovery homes. He is also drafting a bill to create a bed limit in recovery homes in the county. “My goal is that we are no longer the dumping ground for the rest of the state,” said Pizzulli.

Relaying that he enjoyed spending time, learning, and growing with the people in Adams County, Pizzulli said, “I’m new to this process.” He wants to bring jobs to the area and said, “We’ve got so much potential from our river to our rail – between the beautiful foothills of these mountains. I’m just the guy getting our message across.”

Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls is running against Frank LaRose and Bernie Moreno in the Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate from Ohio. Dolan visited Adams County on January 10 at a meet and greet held at Frisch’s in West Union. Sheriff Kimmy Rogers invited reporters to sit with Dolan to ask questions. Rogers said, “I don’t normally get into politics, but I felt Matt had a message Adams County needed to hear.”

Dolan said, “I’m in Adams County to learn. I’ve been able to be a part of the Appalachian Foundation dollars that have come in here and worked on the broadband dollars to come in here. We need to make sure government gets out of the way and is helpful where it can be.”

“Every legislator represents parts of Ohio, so collectively, you represent all of Ohio. I think it’s a dereliction of duty if you are not listening to everyone,” said Dolan. He said the key is to be in the majority and set the agenda. Of bipartisanship, he said, “Where we can find agreement, great – but the agreement doesn’t knock off the agenda.”

“I’m best positioned to beat Sherrod Brown. I’m the only one in this race with private and public sector experience,” said Dolan, whose focus is making Ohioans’ lives better.” He suggested cutting taxes, reducing regulations, saving women’s sports, expanding vouchers, and supporting public schools. Dolan said, “I know where government can be helpful, and I know where government can be harmful.”

When asked about his stance on Issue 1, Dolan says he is pro-life. He said, “I’m very proud of my pro-life record. Abortion has gone down 37%, but I’m for exceptions. I’ve always been for exceptions and haven’t deviated from that.” He shares that he is more consistent with where Ohio voters are.

Regarding Social Security benefits, Dolan said folks shouldn’t have to worry about losing their benefits and “If you’re about to go on Social Security, you should not worry that you’re not going to get it.” He said that these and other entitlements as “they exist today are on a path to insolvency.” Dolan believes in reform so the next generation has a system that will work for them.

Dolan discussed the economic viability of practicing medicine in rural areas. He supports looking at a federal rule that decides that those practicing medicine in rural areas are reimbursed at a lower rate than their urban counterparts.

A “real life” situation was presented to Dolan, explaining that when working with Medicare and Medicaid, out-of-pocket expenses for items like back braces or adult diapers are more expensive than buying those items outright from retail stores. Dolan said, “I’m either stealing your speech, or you’re stealing my speech. I’m the only one that understands how Medicaid operates because of my experience.” He continued, “The feds say we want a one-size-fits-all. We need to allow the state to have a lot more flexibility to how they operate, so these complete and utter inefficiencies can be corrected.”

Dolan is a supporter of the school voucher program. He said, “I think allowing parents throughout the state to decide where and how their kids get educated is absolutely necessary.” He explained that not everyone realizes that “The same time we made universal school choice, we provided $1.9 billion more for K through 12 education. So, it wasn’t a matter of taking money from the traditional public schools and giving it to the vouchers. We raised everyone’s revenue because our state revenues were so good. What needs to happen, though, is the public schools need to react. If children are leaving the schools, we need the superintendents – we need the school boards to start asking, ‘Why are they leaving our schools?’ and then make the necessary corrections. That’s how we’re going to improve public schools.”

Dolan touched on his support for skilled trade unions and said he does not have as great a relationship with public unions. He spoke about infrastructure, saying it “Is a key part of economic development and quality of life.” Unique in this race, Dolan said, “I’m the only one that supports the federal infrastructure bill, which is hugely important because our roads and bridges need to be safe.”

Dolan concluded, “As a finance Chairman in Ohio, I have paid attention to Appalachia and Adams County and will do the same as a U.S. senator. All Ohio must rise!”