Election 2020: 88th District Ohio House of Representatives Ed Ollom

Ed Ollom said he seeks to be the choice of the citizens to represent Republicans for the 88th District Ohio House of Representatives seat. Ollom's name will be on the March 17 ballot running against Shayne Thomas and Gary Click for the Republican spot on the Nov. 3 ballot. "I am not a career politician and don't want to be one," Ollum said. "I seek an open seat that should be filled by a candidate based on qualifications and contributions to community, not efforts of self-promotion. The voters of this district should choose their next representative, not party members in Columbus." Ollum graduated in 1991 from Lakota High School and started college at Terra State Community College before earning bachelor's and master's degrees in environmental science from the University of Findlay in 2003 and 2006. He worked for 10 years in the aerospace industry, working for a NASA contractor, five years in Tiffin as environmental manager at Ameriwood and the past three years in Fostoria working at Morgan Advanced Materials (the former Union Carbide plant). He currently is managing a soil and groundwater contamination clean-up effort — "a multi-year, multi-million dollar effort." His experience managing million-dollar projects throughout his career gives him the skills to be a state representative, he said. "I have worked with government agencies at the federal, state and local level, including early in my career working with NASA on the Mars Exploration Rover Project," he said. "I am a life-long resident of this district and have volunteered and contributed throughout my life." Ollum said he has been chairman of the Seneca County Local Emergency Planning Committee for six years, working with the Emergency Management Agency, law enforcement and first responders on the county's emergency response plan, annual drill and grant opportunities. He said he has served on the Homeland Security Committee. He has been president of the Tiffin Area Safety Council, and has worked with the Chamber of Commerce on grant opportunities. "As an engineer, I understand that there is a solution to every problem, and often scientists and engineers have the solution, not politicians," he said. "My background will get me on the Energy and Natural Resources, Public Utilities and Environmental committees where I will have an impact greater than my single vote in the Statehouse. I will get on those committees as a subject matter expert on energy and environmental law and technology." Public education is an area Ollum said "needs to be adequately and equitably funded and supported to the extent needed to achieve success." "Providing the next generation with the tools needed to be self-sufficient tax-paying citizens is a conservative position," he said. Another area of concern, he said, is the opioid epidemic. "As a parent, it scares me to think that my children are one bad decision away from never coming home again," he said. "As for the economy, Ohio is over-taxed and over-regulated," he said. "I pledge to oppose any tax increase proposal, and advocate for cost-benefit analysis of current and any proposed business regulations."