David Painter

By Megan Alley
Sun staff

 

Two candidates are vying for the seat that will be left open when Clermont County Commissioner Bob Proud retires early next year.

David Painter was born and raised in the village of New Richmond, where he still lives. Most recently, he was a self-employed construction engineering and project management consultant, managing multi-million dollar construction and environmental remediation projects throughout the United States for agencies such as the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

Painter sat on the New Richmond Exempted Village School District school board from 2003 to 2011; he served as president of the board for two years.

He also held a position on the Ohio Township board of zoning appeals.

Painter is running as a Republican; he was endorsed by the county’s Republican Party.

“My opponent did not choose to be vetted or endorsed by the Republican Party,” Painter said. “His campaign materials are false advertising; there’s no other way to call it.”

Painter said he’s running for county commissioner because he has a desire to give back to the community.

“I want to serve the people,” he said. “I think that the past projects that I’ve done in my career, which dealt with the planning and budgeting of governmental funds, show that I’m able to manage projects and do it expediently and on schedule and on budget without compromising the project, which is the same scope of work that the commissioners are asked do.”

He added, “I’m a lifelong resident of New Richmond and Clermont County, and I understand what residents want. I don’t think all the answers are at the top; vetting the community’s input and using their expertise to plan for the future is the right way to manage the county.”

Painter said his past achievements on the school board fit into the work he’ll be asked to do as a commissioner.

“In my tenure, we were able to pay off all of the bonds and debts and put $19 million dollars in reserves,” he added.

Tom Bixler

Tom Bixler was born and raised in Goshen Township, where he still lives. He is newly retired from a career in construction; most recently, he taught residential and commercial construction at Great Oaks technical and vocational school for 18 years.

 

Bixler currently sits on the Goshen Local School District school board, a position he’s held since January 2010; he served as president of the board in 2014 and 2015.

He’s also held positions on the township’s zoning commission and board of zoning appeals.

Bixler, a proclaimed lifelong republican, is running as an Independent; he would have sought the endorsement of the Clermont County Republican Party, but by the time he decided to enter the race in January, the group had already endorsed David Painter.

Nonetheless, Bixler campaign materials allude to him being “a real Republican” and display the party’s elephant symbol.

“I was a little late in making the decision to run,” Bixler said. “But I have the endorsement of the people.”

Bixler, a 22-year U.S Navy Seabees veteran, is running for county commissioner because he wants to continue Proud’s legacy of support and recognition of area veterans.

“I would continue that service to the county,” he said, adding, “I enjoy working with people and I feel like I have much more to give back to my community and our county.”

Bixler lists his campaign platforms as health and well-being, community and economic.

“One of the biggest problems our region is facing is the opium epidemic,” he said. “The resources of our law enforcement and emergency responders are being drained because of the heroin epidemic, which is causing issues for everyone.”

Painter said his campaign platform is fiscal responsibility.

“I believe you have to understand where all the funding comes from for the county and manage it within your means, and you can’t ever deficit spend,” he said, adding, “You have to provide the services that are mandated by the state, but with less money and while trying to provide better service.”

One of the policy area that’s important to Painter is economic development.

“I understand that job creation is one of the most important things that we can do,” he said. “Economic development needs to be effectively planned and controlled, and it needs to be within the needs and wants of the citizens.”

He added, “Our economic development has to foster a free enterprise system and open market. You have to make sure that if government funds are used to foster growth, they need to be used to level the playing field for the entire market; you want to make an open and free competitive market for all business.”

Bixler is focused on policies that promote “controlled growth.”

“Instead of focusing primarily on areas like Union Township and Eastgate, I think we need to help other communities within the county to develop and grow, which will help their tax base and pay for infrastructure that needs to be developed in those areas.”

He added, “If you spread out the growth, it will also relieve traffic in already congested areas.”

Voters will choose the next county commissioner during the upcoming presidential election on Nov. 8.

For more information about Bixler, visit his campaign website at www.tombixlerforclermontcocommissioner.com.

For more information about Painter, visit his campaign website at www.electdavidpainter.com.