County elections board to get new leaders
Rezabek to be named director, Greathouse to be deputy director.
The top two jobs at the Montgomery County Board of Elections will be in new hands today.
Jeffery Rezabek, a Republican, will be appointed director and Sarah W. Greathouse, a Democrat, will be named deputy director during a biennial reorganization meeting this morning, according to the Board of Elections.
Rezabek, an attorney and former Montgomery County Juvenile Court judge and a state representative from 2015 to 2018, succeeds Jan Kelly, who retired Jan. 15. Greathouse, the special projects coordinator for the elections
board the past two years, will take over for Steve Harsman. Greathouse also served a twoyear term as a Board of Elections member and prior to that
was the Montgomery County Democratic Party’s executive director and a political consultant.
“I think they’re two excellent choices,” said Harsman, who will help with the transition until the end of the year when he plans to retire.
Harsman said he and Kelly were committed to seeing through November’s presidential election and are stepping out on favorable terms.
“The board’s in good shape, so this is a good time all the way around,” he said.
Rezabek, who’s already been on the job several weeks, called his appointment to serve out Kelly’s term and his reappointment to a full term today “the thrill of a lifetime.”
“It is a great group of people. The party politics is checked at the door. They come in and work extremely hard,” he said. “I’ve seen already, they want me to succeed, because if I succeed, they’re succeeding ... If we’re successful, then we’re protecting everybody’s rights and making sure everybody’s vote counts.”
Greathouse said she looks forward to the new role, which also comes with great responsibility.
“The Montgomery County
Board of Elections has a long history of executing excellent elections and I look forward to the opportunity to continue that tradition,” she said.
Greathouse helped implement the county’s new voting system and Rezabek has been a longtime Board of Elections rover-troubleshooter, Harsman said.
Rezabek’s salary will be $127,504; Greathouse’s salary increases to $95,014 from $60,008.
Harsman said Rezabek may have a “steeper learning curve” but said he will be a quick study due to his experience with the county’s past and current voting systems as well as his judicial and legislative background.
Rezabek admits he needs to “get up to speed” on some of the behind-the-scenes duties of the county’s top elections official, but is working alongside a seasoned Montgomery County team that “was the envy of the state and maybe even the nation” during last November’s presidential election, he said.
With a budget of roughly $3.5 million, the Board of Elections currently has 26 year-round employees as well as 40 seasonal staff positions along with up to 2,000 precinct officials who work the elections, according to the county.
Both Rezabek and Greathouse will be appointed today to two-year terms by the four-person elections board, which will also get a new Republican member today.
Thomas A. Routsong will replace Kay Wick on the board and begin serving a four-year term along with Democrat Kurt Hatcher, who will be reappointed to the board, which must have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.
Rhine McLin, a Democrat and current board chair, and Republican member Elaine Herrick are in the middle of four-year terms that began in 2019.
Also today, the board chair will be selected. Ohio Law requires the chair and director to be of opposite parties.
Combating disinformation and guarding against cybersecurity threats is an effort that includes the work and cooperation of the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office to vendors to county elections staff, Greathouse said.
“As a state, we are a team and it is important that we all move forward together as a group, because good elections everywhere are good for voters everywhere,” she said.
In addition to helping train the new director and deputy director, Harsman said the elections board will be confronted later this year with reapportionment work, which will take place months later than usual as the U.S. Census Bureau has delayed the release of redistricting data.
Kelly was named Montgomery County Board of Elections director in July 2013. She had served as the board’s finance director and prior to that, was a regional liaison for the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. Harsman has been at the board of elections nearly 31 years and for the past 22 years has been either director or deputy director.
The public can live stream the 8:30 a.m. meeting today on the @DaytonMontgomery CountyBoardofElections Facebook page.
‘It is a great group of people. The party politics is checked at the door. They come in and work extremely hard.’
Jeffery Rezabek new Montgomery County Board of Elections director
New DORA application
The Miami County commissioners Thursday discussed Troy’s new Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA, application with Patrick Titterington, city service and safety director.
The Troy City Council in August rejected the first DORA application. The second proposal covering a smaller area of the downtown and offering three days of operation from noon to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday is pending before the council.
Titterington said the second proposal was adjusted from 20.66 acres to 20.24 acres following a council review and request to move one boundary further east on West Water Street. The county Courthouse Plaza and Safety Building are not included in the DORA boundaries.
Sheriff Dave Duchak and commissioners said they had some concerns about possible congregating of people drinking in the Cherry Street parking lot jointly owned by the city and county.
The lots have been a problem area in the past, Duchak said. Titterington said if DORA is approved by council later this month, this year would be considered a test period for the concept.
PIQUA
Bike path to close
The River’s Edge Bike Path from Ziegler Road to the Old Water Treatment Plant in Piqua will be closed for 30 days starting Monday, March 8. This is to allow for the reconstruction of the hydraulic canal spillway bridge.
The water level in the hydraulic canal system, including Swift Run, Franz Pond and Echo Lake, is being lowered to prepare for the reconstruction. The water level will remain low until the project is complete. All work is weather permitting.
NANCY BOWMAN,
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
AK Steel will change its name, possibly to match owner Cleveland-Cliffs, according to Neil Douglas, president of IAM Local 1943.
He said Cleveland-Cliffs, which purchased AK Steel for $1.1 billion in 2020, sent out an internal email Friday announcing the name change.
Also last year, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. bought the U.S. assets of ArcelorMittal for $1.4 billion. The deal made Cleveland-Cliffs the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America, officials said.
Douglas said the name change “makes sense” since Cleveland-Cliffs has acquired so many companies. He doesn’t believe the name change will impact operations at the Middletown Works.
“Nothing major,” he said when asked about the name change.
Several messages for officials at Cleveland-Cliffs were not returned to the Journal-News.
AK Steel has 2,421 employees and trails Cincinnati Financial Corporation and GE Aviation in West Chester Twp. as the largest private employers in the county. Douglas said AK Steel has about 1,850 hourly union employees.
Douglas said he has seen an increase in business at AK Steel since the purchase.
“We’re booming,” said Douglas, who added AK is hiring.
Late last week, Cleveland-Cliffs announced its plans to contribute $202 million to its global pension plans this year.
About $118 million had been deferred from 2020 as part of the provisions of the CARES Act, according to the company’s 10-K filing Friday with the SEC. That contribution was completed on Jan. 4, according to the filing.
The amount of the contribution reflects the addition of the pension plans of AK Steel Corp. and ArcelorMittal USA.
AK Steel started operations in 1901 in Middletown and always has been a major contributor to the community. The company opened its $36 million AK Steel Research and Innovation Center off Interstate 75 in 2017, 10 years after the headquarters were moved out of Middletown to West Chester Twp.
There are soccer fields and a band shelter named after AK Steel in Middletown and the company is a major supporter of Light Up Middletown, a holiday lights display; and employees serve on numerous boards and employees volunteer on countless projects.