Mayor signs new OSU Extension pact

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

There are a number of city officials who support continuing the economic development contract with the Ohio State University Extension. Chief among those is Van Wert Mayor Don Farmer, who announced at Monday’s City Council meeting that he recently signed a contract renewal with OSU Extension for the development program.

Bolstered by the agreement of Law Director John Hatcher and support from the local economic development advisory group, its executive board and business stakeholders, the mayor said he has signed an amended and restated economic development agreement with OSU Extension, effective March 1. Funding for the agreement comes from the city’s hotel-motel tax, and the mayor added that no General Fund money is used for the program.

Staci Kaufman, president of the advisory group’s executive committee, attended the meeting, as did former Council president Gary Corcoran and former mayor Louis Ehmer.

As amended, OSU Extension economic development educator Cindy Leis’ position will now be known as Van Wert economic development director. The contract continues an economic development relationship with OSU Extension that was put in jeopardy by the decision of the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners back in December to pull out of the contract with the Extension organization.

While some Council people agreed with the mayor’s decision to renew the contract, primarily Councilman At-Large Stan Agler and Jon Peterson, not everyone felt the same way about the action, which was apparently taken without prior knowledge by Council.

Agler, who said he purposely did not attend the most recent meeting between city and county officials on the subject of economic development, because he didn’t like the way invitations were sent out for the meeting, also noted the meetings he did attend didn’t make him feel the county sought to make city officials equal partners in any future economic development situation.

“We were not really asked to give our opinion at the time,” Agler said of earlier discussions. “We weren’t asked there to give an opinion; we weren’t asked there to give advice. We were being told what they were going to do.”

Third Ward Councilman Jerry Mazur said he would have liked further talks with county officials before a decision was made to extend the OSU Extension contract.

“From what I understand, you have gone ahead and signed a contract without having the meeting that we had discussed previously with the commissioners,” Mazur said in noting his disapproval county officials didn’t get a chance to make a proposal to City Council before the agreement was renewed.

He also disagreed with Agler on the substance of talks with county officials, noting that the last meeting with the commissioners included some interesting concepts and proposals.

Meanwhile, it is difficult to assess where other members of City Council fall on the issue, since none of them commented on the mayor’s renewal of the contract.

More discussion of the current arrangement is likely in the future, with meetings with county officials still possible.

Mayor Farmer said he had no problems with doing so, noting that the new agreement with OSU Extension “does not prevent or put aside any meetings planned or scheduled by Van Wert City Council for input on any different direction desired for the economic development office. It does require, as did the prior agreement, one year’s notice for termination of the contract.”

The mayor did add though, that he feels the economic development office “must be kept free of political whims and wishes.”