08/19/2024

Voice of County Leadership: Jack Everson, Ross County Commissioner

How long have you been a county commissioner?

I was elected on November 9th 2022, so I have been a commissioner for a year and a half.

Can you tell me about yourself? What is your professional background? What other elected positions have you held? Why did you first run?

My professional background is of a turnaround manufacturing manager. I learned early in my career methods of change management for underperforming plants and ways to fix what was wrong. Being put in charge of an underperforming manufacturing facility as a plant manager, general manager, or VP of Operations, I would focus on people, product, or process to determine what was wrong and work with the team there to develop solutions. Because every assignment was different, I needed to modify my approach and ever evolve potential solutions. I really loved the pace, pressure and challenge of helping businesses in trouble and found the work very meaningful and impactful to everyone I had the pleasure of working with.

In 2011, I decided to see if this Lean Sigma technique I used in fixing business problems could work in government with their challenges. At the time, the City of Chillicothe was financially insolvent, economic development had stalled out, and the United States was still in the middle of an economic recession from the housing crisis… no problem… right? So, I decided to run for mayor. Running an issue focused campaign for the first time against a very qualified and gifted opponent, somehow, I won a very close race. As most turnarounds work, it was ugly at first with cuts, cost cutting, and change in general, which involved heavy-lifting. I also limited myself to one term so I would have the political will to make tough choices. Long story short, the city recovered to established financial carryover expectations, we achieved a significant debt reduction through consolidation and repayment focus, and the economic development of the downtown was well underway at the end of my term. The tagline for my campaign for mayor was “A New Vision,” and I made sure I left the foundational structure, methods, and committees established to continue the vision past my term. I think the renovation of downtown Chillicothe has turned out nicely under current Mayor Feeney (my Auditor while I was Mayor), ever since.

Why did you want to be a commissioner?

Unlike a brutal financial turnaround, Ross County in 2022 was fiscally solvent and national and state grants were plentiful coming out of COVID. These are prime elements for growth that would not be seen again in my lifetime. Growth is the fun part compared to the crisis management of correction. At my age, it is time for the fun part to utilize the organizational skills I have developed over the years.

What are you most proud of for having achieved in your time as commissioner?

The UNSECO designation acquired last year for the Hopewell Culture was something we worked on while I was Mayor of Chillicothe, and the Appalachian Community Grant awarded earlier this year sets the template for substantial growth in Ross County during the remainder of my term. I worked on both of these objectives during my campaign in 2022.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve dealt with as a county commissioner?

To teach patience to my colleagues in designing the process of sustainable growth. The facilitation of these

Highland County Commissioner Brad Roades and Everson at CCAO’s 2022 New Member Training event.COUNTY LEADER 23

great opportunities require grounded and incremental steps to avoid short-sighted immediate gratification activities. The comprehensive template we construct needs to stand the test of time and constant change, to fulfill the next chapter of Ross County and regional history

What do you find are the most successful methods for reaching out to the residents of your county to communicate what your office is doing and why it’s doing it?

This is an area where I think we could do much better and we are exploring various media avenues to leverage our message. With all the changes coming with our growth plans, constituent communication will need to be more than attending public events, press releases and kissing babies. Keeping citizens informed about the evolving Ross County vision, project progress and new opportunities for employment, entertainment and cultural education will be a focus relative to new delivery elements. .

What was the biggest surprise or adjustment after taking office?

In my career, I was use to being in a position of bottom line leadership. County politics is built on peer relationships of elected officials in separate authority lines, that have to work together in agency authority to get big picture initiatives accomplished. I have always been a good listener and used synergy in my decision-making. The county political silo management system forces cooperation and leads to better decisions based upon developing better ideas acceptable to all.

One of the primary responsibilities of a commissioner is to develop a balanced budget and provide adequate resources to deliver county services. What has been one of the biggest challenges in that area?

Ross County has the benefit of a growing county tax collection due to inflated home values. We also have a vastly increasing sales tax base because of the UNESCO designation and associated increase in tourism. This spring, Ross County received $48 million in the Appalachian Community Grant for projects that will transform selected areas of the county. The complexities of budgeting lies in the priorities of the utilities, roadway improvement and a multitude of grant funded projects to intelligently build out the growth model.

What advice do you have for our new members?

Think BIG and work with other counties from a

regional impact perspective.

How have you or what has your county been doing to participate in the state-county partnership?

Ross County served as a lead applicant for our submittal to the Appalachian Community Grant which encompassed 14 counties and a total of 42 individual projects. This regional approach in the grant application was a deciding reason we were awarded the $154 million overall award. We have management responsibility for all of those projects and the coordination will be challenging within a completion deadline of October 2026 for all 42 projects. We have overhauled our Planning and Development department and are confident we will accomplish this task.

Could you discuss your involvement with CCAO as well as the benefits of being an active member?

I am an active member of the CCAO Board of Directors, OCERP Advisory Committee, and OASP Board of Directors. I attend all CCAO quarterly meetings and find them of great value toward my education of county government operations. The networking with my commissioner peers at these events is awesome and invaluable!

What are your main priorities, personal issues, and causes? Why?

When I became a commissioner, I was also the Executive Director of BESTOhio Industry Sector Partnership, a manufacturing-based organization representing eight counties in south-central Ohio with 160 participating members. On June 30th this year, I resigned from that position to dedicate my full time as commissioner. At the end of 2024, Ross County Commissioner Dwight Garrett is retiring and will be a tremendous loss to the leadership of Ross County government. I will need to fill that gap along with my fellow commissioner James Lowe and a new and inexperienced commissioner to be named after the November election.