EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a 2-part series on the Republican candidates running for Crawford County Commissioner heading into the March 15 primary.
GALION, Ohio — With the primaries fast approaching, Crawford County Commissioner candidates are running hard for votes in Galion and the surrounding areas.
Mo Ressallat, 75, of Galion, is running for Crawford County Commissioner on the Republican ticket. He will appear on the primary ballot on Tuesday, March 15 along with Terry Gribble (R), current YMCA director.
Before serving as commissioner from 2000 to 2012, Ressallat served on Galion’s city council as an at-large member for 11 years. Two of those years were spent as the council president.
When his wife, Mary, got sick he stopped all public service to care for her. She died in September 2014, onsetting a brief hiatus from public office. Ressallat said he decided to run for county commissioner again to honor her and to keep serving the people of Galion.
“I love people and I love solving problems and listening to people. I’m a good listener,” Ressallat said. “Some people want to talk, I want to be a good listener.”
Ressallat said, as commissioner, he hopes to bring about a change of attitude — one that he described as keeping the county prepared for opportunity.
“We have a declining population and a declining local tax base. We need to change our attitude to fit the future,” he said.
One way he hopes to work to change this attitude is to encourage higher education. He noted working with the Crawford Success Center, a relatively new addition to the county.
“We have a facility, we have to continue to teach people how to use it,” Ressallat said.
His appreciation for receiving a higher education comes from firsthand experience.
When he moved to the United States from Iran in 1966, he made sure he received a college education at Otterbein College in Westerville and the College of DuPage in Chicago. He finished with a degree in business management. When he graduated, he moved to Galion and opened up Mo’s Dining on Harding Way.
“Education opens up opportunity for people. It did for me,” he said.
Ressallat — a family man with three daughters and seven grandchildren — also hopes to keep families strong because, ultimately, he said, they are what keeps a community like Crawford County strong.
“We need to find activities that kids can do, like a sports complex,” he suggested.
He was referring to Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development’s efforts to build a facility in the county for various sports activities.
“It will attract people from the area but also people from all over and it will help the economy. We need to focus on the future for a new generation,” Ressallat said.
Ressallat said he respects Gribble, who is running against him.
“It’s by the grace of God that I’m here in Galion. I’m here for a purpose. If I don’t win, it will be business as usual. I will go my way, he (Gribble) will go his way,” he said, smiling.