Beagle accepts state job before taking County Commission seat
Retiring 5th District State Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, said Friday he won’t become a Miami County commissioner in January after all.
Instead, he will join the team of newly elected State Treasurer Robert Sprague, Beagle confirmed Friday.
He is leaving the Senate due to term limits. He was unopposed this year in a bid for one county commission seat on the 2018 ballot. A new commissioner will be appointed by the Miami County Republican Central Committee, following Ohio Revised Code requirements.
“It is an amazing opportunity,” Beagle said of his new senior staff position in Sprague’s office. The staff appointments are scheduled to be announced early next week.
His background is in finance and banking, making a position in the treasurer’s office a good fit, Beagle said. He will work in programs such as the Ohio Checkbook for public financial reporting. Beagle said he’ll still be in contact with the commission.
“I will be available to the commissioners any way I can help at the state level,”
He is leaving the Senate due to term limits. He was unopposed this year in a bid for one county commission seat on the 2018 ballot.
he said.
The Central Committee will be notified of his decision by letter, Beagle said. He already has notified the three current commissioners and the commission clerk/administrator. Beagle had attended some of the commission’s budget meetings as part of his preparing to take office in January.
“Senator Beagle would have made an excellent county commissioner, but we respect his decision and are confident he will be a valuable asset for Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague and the State of Ohio,” said Commission President John “Bud” O’Brien.
O’Brien is leaving office at year’s end after deciding not to run for re-election in 2018. He was one of four Republican candidates for the 80th District Ohio House seat won by Jena Powell of Darke County.
O’Brien also is chairman of the county Republican Party. A date for the Central Committee meeting has not been set. The date and instructions on how to apply for the commission seat will be announced later, O’Brien said.
Under the Revised Code, the appointment will run through 2020. Then, the person appointed and anyone else interested would have to run for the balance of the four-year term, which goes through 2022.