MANSFIELD, Ohio – Former Richland County Commissioner Daniel Hardwick has filed petitions to again run for a county commissioner’s seat.
Hardwick, a Republican candidate, was a county commissioner from 2000 to 2005.
He will face recently announced candidate Connie Garber in the Republican primary, which is set for May 6.
Both Garber and Hardwick seek the seat held by Democratic incumbent Gary Utt. The general election will be Nov. 4, 2016.
“I’ve wanted to get back [into a commissioner’s seat] for a long time, but timing needed to be there,” Hardwick said. “It seems like it is a good time, and I feel like the county needs to refocus its leadership toward economic development.”
According to his press release, Hardwick said local government and businesses have spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” on studies with common-sense solutions to grow the local economy. Hardwick said it is time for those initiatives to be put back on the “forefront of our community’s priorities.”
“I don’t feel like the county leadership has been there, and a lot of members of the business community have felt there has been a real absence – until recently with Marilyn John on the board – of involvement of being proactive in that arena,” he said.
Hardwick’s experience ranges from working in court systems to sales, as well as local politics. He currently works as an independent insurance agent, specializing in payroll insurance options and marketplace insurance for people who can’t afford coverage through the marketplace.
He operates through NCO Good Neighbors LLC.
“I co-wrote with [Chief Probation Officer and Program Director at Richland County Court Services] Dave Leitenberger the first comprehensive plan for the Richland County criminal justice system back in the ’90s,” Hardwick said.
After working in the court system, Hardwick became commissioner. He said during the middle of his term, he developed serious health problems.
“I almost died. People didn’t know that at the time, but it was devastating,” he said. “I actually suffered with that and had multiple surgeries for the following seven years, but that’s behind me, and it would be really rare for that to come back.”
The health problems affected him “greatly” during the end of his term and while he was seeking re-election, he added.
“I did make some mistakes, and I said some things I shouldn’t have said and had some misunderstandings,” he said.
During his term, county general fund expenses grew 1 percent per year on average, according to the release.
Hardwick also wants to restart efforts to mitigate flooding that has “devastated home owners and business opportunities.”
“I had a task force back in the day for this purpose, and that task force was set aside,” he said. “I knew that until we had a funding source, we couldn’t move forward with it.”
As he left office, Hardwick said the Board of Commissioners came up with a funding source but the money was absorbed into the general fund and “nothing was done to fix those problems.”
“I think it’s time to run and to hold people accountable and talk about what we can do to move our community forward,” he said.
