2022 Summer Caucuses and Panel Forum with State Lawmakers Follow-Up Information

State legislators who took part in the 10 a.m. panel forum included:

• Ohio Rep. Gary Click 88th District
• Ohio Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, 3rd District
• Ohio Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson, 44th District
• Ohio Rep. Jim Hoops, 81st District
• Ohio Sen. Rob McColley, 1st District
• Ohio Sen. Bill Reineke, 26th District
• Ohio Rep. Mike Sheehy, 46th District
• Ohio Rep. Lisa Sobecki, 45th District

This event was sponsored by AT&T, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Destination Toledo, and Penta Career Center. Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor participated as an exhibitor.

Gary Click represents the 88^th District in the Ohio House of Representatives, which encompasses all of Sandusky County and most of Seneca County. He is currently serving his first term State Representative. He is a member of the House Behavioral Health & Recovery Support, Energy & Natural Resources, Families, Aging, & Human Services, and Primary & Secondary Education committees.

Representative Click has served as pastor of the Fremont Baptist Temple since 2006. In over thirty years of ministry, Pastor Click has served in many aspects including youth ministry, bus ministry, writing, radio, Christian education, and lobbying Congress on behalf of churches and Christian schools. He has also served as a chaplain for law enforcement and in hospice care.

Representative Click is a graduate of Midwestern Baptist College. He and his wife are the proud parents of four boys and four grandchildren.

Haraz Ghanbari represents District 3 in the Ohio House of Representatives, which encompasses all of Wood County. He was appointed in March 2019 and is serving his first full term as a State Representative. He chairs the Armed Services & Veterans Affairs Committee and is a member of the Finance, Finance Committee on Higher Education, Rules & Reference, Technology & Innovation, and Transportation and Public Safety committees.

Representative Ghanbari previously served on Perrysburg City Council. He also served as Director of Military & Veteran Affairs at the University of Toledo. In 2018, he was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame as their youngest inductee ever. Prior to joining UT, he was a staff photojournalist for The Associated Press based in Washington. He traveled nationally and internationally as a member of the White House and Pentagon press corps.

Representative Ghanbari is a graduate of Kent State and the U.S. Naval War College’s Command and Staff Program. He has more than 17 years of military service. He continues his service in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in September 2018. He and his wife have two children.

Paula Hicks-Hudson represents District 44 in the Ohio House of Representatives, which includes central Toledo. She is serving her second term as State Representative. She serves on the Agriculture and Conservation, Finance, Finance Subcommittee on Agriculture, Development, and Natural Resources, and Government Oversight committees. She has held the positions of Minority Whip of the Democratic Caucus and the 2nd Vice President of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.

Representative Hudson previously served as the City of Toledo’s first black female mayor from 2015 to 2017. Prior to becoming mayor, she served on Toledo City Council representing District 4. She was serving as President of Council from 2013 until she became Mayor of Toledo. During her 35-year career in the public and private sectors, she has also worked for the State of Ohio, Lucas County, Toledo Legal Aid Society, and the Central State University Upward Bound Program. She taught legal courses at the University of Toledo Law School and Ohio Northern University Claude Pettit College of Law.

Representative Hudson is a graduate of Spelman College, Colorado State University, and the University of Iowa College of Law. She owns her own private law practice and is a Court Appointed Child Advocate-Guardian ad Litem. She was married to the late Freeman Hudson and is the proud mother of two daughters and seven grandchildren.

Jim Hoops represents District 81 in the Ohio House of Representatives, which includes Henry, Putnam, and Williams counties, as well as part of Fulton County. He is currently serving his second term as State Representative. He is chair of the Public Utilities Committee and a member of the Commerce and Labor and Finance committees.

Representative Hoops previously served in the Ohio House from 1999 to 2006, and he also served as Henry County Auditor from 1985 to 1998. He was the associate vice president for Strategic Initiatives at Northwest State Community College from 2016 to 2019. He also served as associate vice president of finance for American Municipal Power, Inc. for seven years. In this position, he was part of a team that financed over $6 billion to construct power plants that included hydro, coal, and natural gas.

Representative Hoops and his wife currently reside in Napoleon, Ohio.

Rob McColley represents District 1 in the Ohio Senate, which includes Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, and Williams counties, as well as part of Auglaize, Fulton, and Logan counties. Senator McColley was appointed to the Senate in December 2017. He is the Ohio Senate’s Majority Whip. He currently chairs the Energy and Public Utilities Committee, vice chair of the Judiciary and Government Oversight and Reform committees, and is a member of the Workforce and Higher Education and Rules and Reference committee.

Senator McColley previously represented District 81 in the Ohio House of Representatives, where he also served in House leadership as Assistant Majority Whip. Prior to being elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, he worked for the Community Improvement Corporation of Henry County. He also served as a trustee of the Ohio Fallen Heroes Memorial in Sunbury, Ohio and the Henry County Community Foundation, a board member for the Henry County Board of Developmental Disabilities, a member of the OSU Alumni Club of Northwest Ohio, and a board member of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy.

Senator McColley is a graduate of Napoleon High School and The Ohio State University. He attended the University of Toledo College of Law and graduated with a Juris Doctorate in 2010. He lives in Napoleon with his wife, daughter, and sons.

Bill Reineke represents the 26^th District in the Ohio Senate, which includes Union, Crawford, Marion, Morrow, Sandusky, Seneca, and Wyandot counties. He is currently serving his first term as State Senator. He is vice chair of the Transportation Committee and is a member of the Energy and Public Utilities, Workforce and Higher Education, and Small Business and Economic Opportunity committees. His foremost priority is workforce development and job creation, which he pursues as a member on the Governor’s Executive Workforce Board.

Senator Reineke previously served three terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. He has worked closely with the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce, Tiffin Seneca Economic Partnership, Tiffin Tomorrow, and Tiffin Rotary Club as a business owner in Tiffin and now representing the district in Columbus.

Senator Reineke attended Morehead State University. He is a business partner in Reineke Family Dealerships, a three-generation family business, that has grown to include 10 dealerships and over 400 full and part time employees. He is a 38-year resident of Tiffin and the proud father of two daughters.

Mike Sheehy represents District 46 in the Ohio House of Representatives, which spans several political subdivisions in Lucas County including Jerusalem Township on the east to Springfield Township on the west. His district includes the cities of Oregon, Maumee, parts of Toledo, and the Village of Holland. Representative Sheehy is a ranking member on the Transportation and Public Safety committee and a member of the Agriculture and Conservation, Armed Services and Veterans Affairs, and the Infrastructure and Rural Development committees.

Representative Sheehy previously served in municipal government for nearly two decades. Prior to being appointed to the legislature, he served on Oregon City Council from 1993 to 2013 and served several terms as president of council. He represented Oregon on the former TMACOG Environmental Council.

Representative Sheehy is a graduate of the University of Toledo, where he was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Prior to his career in public service, he worked for CSX Railroad for 45 years where he held several positions including yard conductor, yard foreman, freight conductor, and remote control operator. He also held local union offices with the United Transportation Union. He is married and has four children and four grandchildren.

Lisa Sobecki represents District 45 in the Ohio House of Representatives, which includes parts of East Toledo, West Toledo, all of North Toledo, Washington Township, and a small section of Sylvania Township. She is serving her second term as State Representative. Representative Sobecki is a Ranking Member on the Ways and Means Committee and is a member of the Primary and Secondary Education and State and Local Government and committees. She is also a member of the Unemployment Compensation Modernization and Improvement Council and sits on the Conference Committee on S.B. 19. Representative Sobecki served as Chair of the Ohio Democratic Women’s Legislative Caucus and Vice Chair of the Ohio Democratic Women’s Legislative Caucus.

Representative Sobecki is a long-time public servant. She first served in the U.S. Navy as the first female fire safety instructor as an enlisted sailor. She later served as a school board member for Toledo Public Schools for eight years. During her time on the school board, Rep. Sobecki served as board president and oversaw the construction of 44 new schools and the renovation of two, 100-year-old high schools—during the Great Recession. Prior to being elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, she worked as an economic support specialist for the Lucas County Department of Job and Family Services for eight years. She was active within her union, AFSCME Local 544-01, and served as the chapter’s chair.

Representative Sobecki is a graduate of Republic High School in Missouri. She is married and is a proud mother of two sons, one daughter-in-law, and grandmother to two grandchildren.

Thank you to AT&T, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Destination Toledo and Penta Career Center for sponsoring the 2022 Summer Caucuses and Panel Forum with State Lawmakers!

Mike Aspacher became mayor of Bowling Green on January 1, 2020. Mayor Aspacher is a lifelong resident of Bowling Green, graduating from Bowling Green High School and attending Bowling Green State University.

A plumber and pipe-fitter by trade, Mike spent 34 years as a member of Local 50. Mayor Aspacher held numerous positions within the trades over those years, retiring as a project manager for Dunbar Mechanical in 2018.

He has been an active member of the Bowling Green community his entire life, first holding elective office in 1998 as a member of the Bowling Green City Schools Board of Education. He also served on the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Board, helping to shape programming, ensure citizen led oversight of park facilities, and assisting in the long-range strategic focus of the Parks and Recreation Department. Mayor Aspacher served on City Council from 2010 to 2019 representing the 3^rd Ward of the city. During that time, he served on numerous Council committees including the Finance Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee, and serving as the chair of the Public Utilities Committee. Mike served six years as Council President. He is a current member of the Executive Committee and the Leadership Development committee of the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments.

Mayor Aspacher and his wife, Toni, have two sons, one granddaughter and one grandson.

Tim W. Brown is currently serving as the fifth president of the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments.

Prior to serving as president of TMACOG he was elected to two terms as state representative in Ohio’s 3^rd House District. As state representative he chaired the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, and served on the Financial Institutions, Housing and Urban Development Committee, and the Health and Aging Committee. Before serving in the Ohio House of Representatives, he was elected to four terms as Wood County Commissioner and served as vice president of the Board. He was elected by his colleagues around Ohio to serve as vice president of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO). He also served on a number of committees for the CCAO including the General Government (Legislative) Committee, which he chaired for a number of years, the Joint Committee on Administration of Elections, and he chaired the Commissioners and Sheriffs Task Force Committee. He is also the past president of the Northwest Ohio Commissioners and Engineers Association. Preceding his appointment as commissioner in 1997, he served northwest Ohio for eight years as district representative for the late U.S. Congressman Paul Gillmor.

In 2013, Brown was accepted into the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Executive Education Program. He studied in Boston, and graduated in the summer of 2013. Mr. Brown was selected to attend Harvard's program from hundreds of applicants from around the world, and was the recipient of a fellowship through the David Bohnett Fellowship Program. Tim Brown is a 1986 graduate of Bowling Green State University’s College of Business.