Hood’s opponent in the May
8 primary if the endorsed Democratic candidate, Gary L.
Byers.
“Commissioners serve at
the behest of the people,” Hood says of the job he is in
contention for in the May 8 primary. For Hood, he sees the
prospects of public service at the county level as
continuing the commitment to constituents he has maintained
in the township since being first elected to that job in
1986.
“I want to invest in
people rather than in buildings,” he says. “I want to reward
citizens and taxpayers.” Hood’s passion during his years of
leadership in the township is economic development, a
strength he believes will translate into the commissioner’s
office. He was a major force in bringing the Joint Economic
Development Zone to the township in 2010 creating jobs and
revenue, he says.
“We’ve been able to pave
six to eight different roads; we have the best roads in the
county; we’ve cleared up brown fields,” he says. “I’m a
public servant and not a politician.” Spencer Township, he
adds is a beacon of cooperation with its neighbors,
particularly Swanton and Whitehouse, “collaborating on fire
protection, road repair projects and equipment purchases. We
know how to do more with less through cooperation and
dialogue. We treat our citizens as equal neighbors when the
needs arise to keep public service levels up to par.”
Hood has also worked
closely with Habitat for Humanity, the Port Authority and in
Democratic Party politics for over 20 years and has been
engaged with the Lucas County Board of Commissioners for as
long as he has been on the board of trustees for Spencer
Township.
“We transferred $1.5
million to the Port Authority back for investment into
Spencer Township for businesses that reside in the township,
that stimulated growth and created jobs,” says Hood.
“My experience engaging
with Lucas County and the City of Toledo on hundreds, if not
a thousand issues, gives me the insight and expertise in
many if not most of the county’s activities,” he says. “I
think I can be a valuable asset in bringing people together
and balancing the needs of citizens with the requirements of
governance and large scale community project management.”
Hood, who earned an
associate’s degree from the University of Toledo’s Scott
Park Campus is a supervisor at Martin Technology. As he
ponders the next step in his life – a life on the Board of
Lucas County Commissioners, he ticks off some of the
positions that he feels are in the best interests of those
citizens he will be serving – smarter water use by holding
on to the Collins Water Treatment Plant rather than giving
it away as proposed by the recent Memorandum of
Understanding proposed by a group of area representatives
(“the MOU needs to be renegotiated”); increase the
capability of converting to solar energy (“through
community-owned solar energy, we can slash utility bills”);
place the county jail where citizens want it not forcing it
down the throats of a community that doesn’t want it (“in
downtown it’s not in anyone’s neighborhood”).
Above all, that which
benefits the citizens of the county is all important. “My
passion is the economic part … commissioners don’t create
jobs but they set the climate and atmosphere to attract
companies; if we can grow our economic base we don’t have to
keep taxing outrageously.”
Commissioners also need to
remember who put them in office, cautions Hood. “Better make
sure you are listening to people.” |