ASHLAND — Ashland County voters have two choices in the May primary when it comes to who they want to represent them on the Ashland County Board of Commissioners in the general election later this year.
Incumbent Denny Bittle, first elected as a commissioner in 2014, is seeking his third term.
His challenger, Burton Williams, a Perry Township trustee with an accounting background, is seeking his first term on the board charged with handling the purse strings of the county.
The candidate who earns the most votes will likely be elected in November, barring any successful challenges from write-in candidates in November.
Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on May 3. To search for your polling location, click here.
Ashland Source spent time with both candidates to learn more about each of the Republican’s platform, lives and backgrounds. We asked each of them two questions related to their plans if elected. Their answers have been edited for clarity.
Their placement in this article has been organized alphabetically by last name.
Denny Bittle
Place of residence: Ashland.
Age: 67.
Family: Wife, three daughters and eight grandchildren.
Education: Hillsdale High School, class of 1973.
Work experience/background: He worked at Timken in Ashland for 9 1/2 years as a machinist, then a programmer. He bought a laundromat in Ashland and operated it for 20 years. He ran Tri-Way Lanes (a bowling alley) for 12 years in Wayne County. He built BB&C Car Care, on Claremont Avenue, which is still in operation today. He also owned Den’s Outdoor Power Equipment, a John Deere dealership, for more than nine years.
Political experience: Elected to the Ashland County Board of Commissioners in 2014.
Question 1: What makes you more qualified than your opponent?
“My experience of already being there for 8 years. There’s a learning curve — I already went through it. And I’m still learning, every day. Especially how different government is than small business. My experience in the small business realm and lifelong leadership in the community, that gives me a good perspective that’s needed in Ashland County. I also believe my age is a nice experience. I’m glad I waited until I was older because I believe it takes a non-emotional mentality to do good job in government. You cannot be offended, that’s very important. It’s also needed in order to make hard decisions. There’s been some decisions that we have made, that I have made, that not everyone agrees with. But I believe we’ll be successful and make Ashland County a better place for all our residents.
“Being a grandparent, and raising daughters in Ashland County gives me better perspective, too. It gives me a much better perspective in what’s coming, what the future needs — the vision going forward. I’ve been through it, kids went through it. And grandkids: you know, what keeps the community growing and a safe place to live and what are their kids needs moving forward. That’s an important perspective for me.”
Question 2: What are the two biggest issues facing Ashland County and how would you tackle them as commissioner?
“The biggest is getting our Ashland County Job and Family Services in a more stable position with staff members. It’s an ongoing concern. That has been the biggest challenge, stabilize the children in foster care and in our system — keeping them out of the system through (Court Appointed Special Services) and working with the courts to make the process quicker. Too many have aged out before they’re ever adopted. We’ve made inroads. Last year the community voted for a tax increase for seniors and children in this community. It shows support that we’re heading in the right direction, but there’s still more work to do.
“The second thing is continuing the economic growth of the community. Making tough decisions of keeping it going forward. Over the last five years, Ashland County is a great example of what happens when you have the right people in elected positions. I want to continue economic growth in community. How do we maintain that growth? How do we maintain lower taxes? Growth will keep the community from raising taxes. The only way to do that is to have growth in the local economy. There are annual increases in wages and expenses. It’s always unfortunate when there are times taxes raise to offset the lack of development in the economy. If we’re growing, we don’t need to increase taxes. I want to continue to do the right thing with taxpayer dollars.”
Burton Williams
Place of residence: Rowsburg.
Age: 45.
Family: Wife, two sons, two daughters.
Education: Massillon Christian High School, class of 1995. The Ohio State University, class of 2007.
Work experience/background: He worked as an accountant for Ohio State University for eight years. From there, he worked at Abeka, a Christian textbook company, for 13 years. He then landed a job as a national account manager at Hedstrom Fitness in Ashland, where he currently works.
Political experience: Elected as trustee of Perry Township in 2018. Re-elected in 2021. Appointed onto the board of the Polk-Jackson-Perry Fire Department in 2018 and again in 2021.
Question 1: What makes you more qualified than your opponent?
“When you have a Republican in office, you make an assumption they are for limited government and they’re fiscally conservative. If you don’t hold the lower elected officials to account, that’s how you get state politicians into power. With the Ashland County Land Reutilization Corporation, the land bank, that’s expanding government. There was already a mechanism in place for acquiring properties, and that’s through the county auditor auctions. I didn’t like how it was pitched to us. That’s what spurred me to run. I’ve always been involved in the local community. Being able to read budgets and county reports, it helps to have a background in that. Also, after I graduated high school, I spent five years in the Navy on submarine duty. It was a service, not a sacrifice. And when I was working at the university, I always attended Calvary Baptist Church in Ashland since 2000, when I got out of the Navy.
“There should be principles behind elected leaders. Mine are limited government and fiscal responsibility — that’s what I want to run on. It shouldn’t be a surprise on how I vote.”
Question 2: What are the two biggest issues facing Ashland County and how would you tackle them as commissioner?
“The contract for the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office is coming up here soon. My concern is on re-negotiating that contract and making sure the county is flush with cash. I don’t want to continue to spend money — which a lot of it is from federal Covid relief money — like its going to be there all the time. We have to have a nest egg.
“Another concern is Ashland County Job and Family Services. I’ve talked to foster parents about how often the turnover is between the individuals at JFS workers and clients. The feedback from foster parents is that there’s this challenge in retaining caseworkers. That’s a concern that I want to focus on. We have to have a competitive environment compared to surrounding counties.”
