July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Two square off for commissioner (10/22/2008)
By By MIKE SNYDER-
They were both waiting to make a run for commissioner out of respect to the current office-holder.
Gerald Kirby and Jim Zimmerman are waiting no more.
The pair, both of whom currently serve as members of the Jay County Council, are facing off as candidates for Commissioner of the South District in this year's general election.
Zimmerman, a farmer, is the Republican nominee for the position, while Kirby, who has retired as a water/wastewater operator and police officer, is the Democratic candidate.
Both have wanted to run for the position for several years but didn't out of respect for longtime Commissioner Gary Theurer, who is giving up the seat after 12 years to make a bid for a spot on the Jay County Council.
Kirby, in his 14th year on the council, said he promised Theurer he would not challenge him in the Democratic primary. And Zimmerman, despite being from an opposing party, said he couldn't bring himself to run against Theurer again (Zimmerman lost to the Democrat in the 1996 general election in a relatively close race).
On what could be the hot-button issue of the 2008 election locally, Zimmerman and Kirby aren't far apart.
Both say they support the referendum question asking support for bonding for a $10 million jail renovation/expansion project, and that there are no easy answers if the measure is defeated by county voters (as Kirby predicts will happen).
"It's probably going to cost us as much to remodel (the jail as opposed to the construction project) ... it's a fact we're going to have to face," Zimmerman said of the jail project.
"How will I vote? I'll vote for it ... for the good of the county," Kirby said in a separate interview. "I expect it to lose big ... at that point, some work's gotta be done, and I don't know where those (repair) funds are going to come from."
Zimmerman and wife Carol live at 6922 West 700 South, Redkey. He farms and operates an egg-laying operation with his brother. The couple has two grown sons. He is a 1964 of graduate of Gov. I.P. Gray High School in New Mt. Pleasant and has lived most of his life in Jefferson Township. In addition to his run for commissioner in the 1990s and time on the council, Zimmerman has also served on the Jay County Planning Commission.
Kirby and wife Sandy are residents of 30 S. Union St., Redkey. A native of Daleville, he moved to Dunkirk as a youth and graduated from Dunkirk High School in 1956. He worked in several glass factories before moving to law enforcement for 27 years - including one term as Jay County Sheriff.
Kirby said that the No. 2 issue for county voters, behind the jail, is regulation of large-scale livestock operations.
"You don't take the approach Randolph County did ... to ban it," says Kirby. "You can't do that. The No. 1 complaint is the odor. The No. 2 is it tears down our property values. I'm not opposed to confined feeding operations ... I am opposed to allowing bad operations and bad operators."
Kirby said he would like to implement a system in which peer pressure from other operators helped police violators.
Zimmerman, who has been on both sides of the issue as an operator and member of government, said he is not dissatisfied with current regulation of CFOs and CAFOs in Jay County, but "we need to be adaptable and able to change. You have neighbors that are good ... and you have some that just don't care. I'm not opposed to the guys who aren't doing right losing their permits," he says.
Zimmerman says he believes that changes in the regulations need to be based on "science, not emotion."
Kirby says that if elected "I've got some unique qualities ... I've got the time to do it. Lord knows I've got the time. I don't have a farm to run, I don't have a factory to run ... I just really honestly believe I've got something to bring to the office," he says. "I bring past experience in county government and finance."
Zimmerman said that positives in his favor include "my past experience, my ability to work well and get along with people. I would try to move the county forward ... and look for more opportunities for growth. I've stayed in this county and I've tried to be a positive promoter of Jay County."
Although he is busy with work and other commitments, "I'm committed to doing this job." He said that Kirby is using the fact he is retired in his campaign. "I don't think that's a reason to vote for someone," Zimmerman says.[[In-content Ad]]
Gerald Kirby and Jim Zimmerman are waiting no more.
The pair, both of whom currently serve as members of the Jay County Council, are facing off as candidates for Commissioner of the South District in this year's general election.
Zimmerman, a farmer, is the Republican nominee for the position, while Kirby, who has retired as a water/wastewater operator and police officer, is the Democratic candidate.
Both have wanted to run for the position for several years but didn't out of respect for longtime Commissioner Gary Theurer, who is giving up the seat after 12 years to make a bid for a spot on the Jay County Council.
Kirby, in his 14th year on the council, said he promised Theurer he would not challenge him in the Democratic primary. And Zimmerman, despite being from an opposing party, said he couldn't bring himself to run against Theurer again (Zimmerman lost to the Democrat in the 1996 general election in a relatively close race).
On what could be the hot-button issue of the 2008 election locally, Zimmerman and Kirby aren't far apart.
Both say they support the referendum question asking support for bonding for a $10 million jail renovation/expansion project, and that there are no easy answers if the measure is defeated by county voters (as Kirby predicts will happen).
"It's probably going to cost us as much to remodel (the jail as opposed to the construction project) ... it's a fact we're going to have to face," Zimmerman said of the jail project.
"How will I vote? I'll vote for it ... for the good of the county," Kirby said in a separate interview. "I expect it to lose big ... at that point, some work's gotta be done, and I don't know where those (repair) funds are going to come from."
Zimmerman and wife Carol live at 6922 West 700 South, Redkey. He farms and operates an egg-laying operation with his brother. The couple has two grown sons. He is a 1964 of graduate of Gov. I.P. Gray High School in New Mt. Pleasant and has lived most of his life in Jefferson Township. In addition to his run for commissioner in the 1990s and time on the council, Zimmerman has also served on the Jay County Planning Commission.
Kirby and wife Sandy are residents of 30 S. Union St., Redkey. A native of Daleville, he moved to Dunkirk as a youth and graduated from Dunkirk High School in 1956. He worked in several glass factories before moving to law enforcement for 27 years - including one term as Jay County Sheriff.
Kirby said that the No. 2 issue for county voters, behind the jail, is regulation of large-scale livestock operations.
"You don't take the approach Randolph County did ... to ban it," says Kirby. "You can't do that. The No. 1 complaint is the odor. The No. 2 is it tears down our property values. I'm not opposed to confined feeding operations ... I am opposed to allowing bad operations and bad operators."
Kirby said he would like to implement a system in which peer pressure from other operators helped police violators.
Zimmerman, who has been on both sides of the issue as an operator and member of government, said he is not dissatisfied with current regulation of CFOs and CAFOs in Jay County, but "we need to be adaptable and able to change. You have neighbors that are good ... and you have some that just don't care. I'm not opposed to the guys who aren't doing right losing their permits," he says.
Zimmerman says he believes that changes in the regulations need to be based on "science, not emotion."
Kirby says that if elected "I've got some unique qualities ... I've got the time to do it. Lord knows I've got the time. I don't have a farm to run, I don't have a factory to run ... I just really honestly believe I've got something to bring to the office," he says. "I bring past experience in county government and finance."
Zimmerman said that positives in his favor include "my past experience, my ability to work well and get along with people. I would try to move the county forward ... and look for more opportunities for growth. I've stayed in this county and I've tried to be a positive promoter of Jay County."
Although he is busy with work and other commitments, "I'm committed to doing this job." He said that Kirby is using the fact he is retired in his campaign. "I don't think that's a reason to vote for someone," Zimmerman says.[[In-content Ad]]
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