To the Editor:
On Tuesday, March 19, the Shelby County Republican primary will elect two new county commissioners to succeed Tony Bornhorst and Bob Guillozet who are both retiring at the end of this year. The winners of these two separate contests will face no ballot opposition in the November general election.
I am supporting Phil Barhorst and Bruce Metz for these two seats. While I am very familiar with Bruce, I am a close personal friend of Phil and I am pleased to share my first hand observations about him for the Jan. 2 seat.
Phil Barhorst is highly qualified. His civic activity is highlighted by almost a decade of service and leadership on the Fort Loramie Board of Education. His work history includes being employed locally, and then with a company whose scope is both national and international. More recently, he has co-owned and operated a successful family business.
I know Phil quite well and we’ve confided in each other on a variety of subjects over many years. I’ve been very impressed with his pursuit of the total picture before rendering a final decision. If he already has an opinion, he’ll look to be sure it can be validated. If he doesn’t have a firm opinion, he will do the fact-finding needed to make a responsible decision. He’s not afraid to say, “I don’t know but I will find out. “
It appears to me that Shelby County‘s current operations are going smoothly, and this begins with the county commissioners. The two new commissioners will combine with one holdover to continue steering the ship in the right direction. While Phil Barhorst sees the current stability as being desirable and necessary toward a successful and efficient operation, he will not allow stability to breed stagnation in the face of new methods and opportunities that will undoubtedly present themselves in the future.
Be sure to vote on March 19. This is a very important election.
Dave Ross
Fort Loramie
