SIDNEY — Julie L. Ehemann, 54, of Anna, has filed her petition with the Shelby County Board of Elections to run for a third term as Shelby County Commissioner commencing on Jan. 1, 2019. Commissioner terms are four years. She was first elected to the Commission in November 2010.
“Shelby County is a great place to work, live and raise a family. We are blessed with some of the best manufacturing jobs around, diverse agriculture, a skilled and productive workforce, and solid government services especially in our law enforcement and first responders,” said Ehemann. “I hope to continue to do my part to help Shelby County grow,” she said.
While Ehemann sees a bright future for Shelby County, she did caution that the county was not without challenges. She said she is eternally positive about Shelby County, but when she thinks about Shelby County’s expanded potential for job creation and economic growth she worries that the resources available to local government to remain full partners with the business community could become severely limited by the opioid epidemic plaguing Ohio and the local area in part due to state funding cuts.
“This crisis strains the financial resources of our local law enforcement, our local judicial system, our local social services and most importantly the very fabric of our families,” said Ehemann. “I want to continue as commissioner working with our legislators to ensure they understand local government’s challenges, and collaborating each day to ensure we find solutions that include deterrence, compassionate treatment, and paths for those afflicted by this epidemic to return to good citizenship behaviors,” she said.
Ehemann is a licensed Pharmacist by profession. She works to address the opioid crisis locally by serving on the Stepping Up Coalition, Human Trafficking Coalition and the Star Transitional Treatment House initiative and as a board member for the Shelby County Counseling Center.
Ehemann currently represents the Commission and Shelby County as vice president of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, Shelby County Land Re-Utilization Board, Sidney Shelby Economic Partnership, Emergency Management Agency Executive Board and the National Association of Counties, where she serves on the Rural Action Caucus.
Ehemann also serves as executive chair of the Shelby County Republican Party and vice president of the Shelby County Animal Rescue Foundation (SCARF). She is a graduate from Ohio Northern University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Pharmacy, a 2006 graduate of the JoAnn Davidson Institute, and a 2016 Cambridge Leadership graduate. Ehemann has 24 years of Shelby County government service including presiding as mayor of Anna from 1999 to 2010.
Ehemann is married to Kurt Ehemann and lives outside Anna in Dinsmore Township on their farm. She has one married adult daughter, Shelby Gibbs, of Jackson Center.
