David Haber elected new Preble County commissioner

PREBLE COUNTY — UPDATE:

The Preble County Republican Party central committee has voted to appoint David Haber to the open Preble County commissioner seat.

Haber is the Chairman of the Preble County Republican Party. He was sworn into office by Preble County Probate Judge Jenifer Overmyer at the end of the public meeting.

The term the committee appointed Haber to fulfill runs through 2022.

INITIAL REPORT:

The Preble County Republican Party’s central committee is holding a public meeting tonight to select a new county commissioner.

There’s a vacancy on the three-seat commission in Eaton because now-former Preble County Commissioner and current State Representative, Rodney Creech had to resign earlier this month since he was elected to the Ohio House in the November election.

“So since I’m in the middle of my term, I was not able to fulfill my term due to being elected as State Representative,” State Rep. Creech said. “It’s up to the central committee – the (Preble County) Republican (Party) central committee to fill my position.”

Creech is a Republican and currently represents Ohio’s 43rd House District which includes all of Preble County and parts of western Montgomery County.

Ohio law says that since Creech resigned more than halfway through his term as county commissioner, instead of there being a need for a special election to fill the seat, his party can appoint someone to fill the remainder of the term which runs through 2022.

That’s where the Preble County Republican Party comes into the equation. Stephanie Garrett chairs the Preble County Republican Party’s central committee, which, currently, is a group of 35 elected officials from voting precincts across the count. The members of the central committee will vote on who the new Preble County commissioner should be.

“Tonight, the central committee will meet and have a public meeting as the Ohio Revised Code has lined out,” Garrett said. “And we will vote on the candidates and make our decision tonight.”

Eight candidates have formally submitted their names to the central committee to be considered for the nomination. They are: Preble County Republican Party Chair David Haber, Eaton Mayor Joe Renner, Robert Wood, Harold Niehaus, Rusty Anderson, and former Preble County Commissioners Jane Marshall, Chris Day and Denise Robertson.

Day and Robertson just left office weeks ago as Preble County Commissioners. They both lost primary races as incumbents last April. Preble County voters elected Republicans Adam Craft and Rachel Vonderhaar to the county commission seats that Day and Robertson previously held during the November election.

Each of the eight candidates will get three minutes to give a speech, followed by another three minutes of question and answer with the members of the central committee. “The committee will be asking the questions. There are no pre-determined questions,” Garrett said.

After that process is finished, the central committee will hold a voice vote. The winner will need to earn a majority of the votes to win. If after the first round of voting, no candidate has garnered a majority of votes, the committee will hold a second round of voting between the top two choices from the first round.

In the end, whoever the central committee tabs as the winner will be on the job right away. “I have the (Preble County) Probate Judge (Jenifer Overmyer) that is coming to swear them in and they will sign all the needed papers and we will expect them to show up for work first thing tomorrow morning,” Garrett said.

The next Preble County Commissioner’s meeting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Wednesday.

If the winner of tonight’s vote wants to keep the office after this current term, they’ll have to run for re-election in November 2022.

The Preble County Republican Party’s central committee is holding the public meeting to decide who the newest Preble County commissioner will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Twin Valley South High School auditorium in West Alexandria.

News Center 7 will update this story when the central committee formally appoints someone to the open county commission seat.

Cox Media Group