Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes and Greg Lawson with the Buckeye Institute square-off on shared public services, a solution often touted as an answer to cash-strapped municipalities. The questions raised at this session demand frank discussion and evidence that communities will see savings without losing dependable services. Does every community need their own fire and police department? Can residents depend on a timely response in an emergency? Does sharing public services always save money for the taxpayer?
These are important questions when your health or home are at risk!
Mr. Lawson and Auditor Rhodes offer opposing views on a number of possibilities for shared services, providing examples from communities where combining services offered savings for taxpayers while maintaining quality services as well as those communities where the service or cost failed to deliver promised savings and quality. This presentation will help attendees and elected officials make wise choices and reach better solutions when combining services is suggested for their communities.
Speaker Bio
Dusty Rhodes begins his 7th term as Hamilton County Auditor, serving since 1990. He previously served for 21 years as a Delhi Township Trustee and 7 years as President of the Hamilton County Township Association. Mr. Rhodes also served 16 years on the Board of Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, 3 as chair, where he managed $60 billion in assets.
Born in New York, Dusty graduated from Syracuse with a B.S. in Communications Arts. He enjoyed a 21 year career as a licensed investment broker, retiring from Paine Webber in 1999. Many Cincinnatians remember Dusty from his stellar radio career beginning in 1964 with WSAI (1360) also hosting shows on WLW, WKRC and WGRR before concluding a regular morning program on "Oldies 1160", WDJO in 2009. Dusty and his wife Jo Ann celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2013.
Greg R. Lawson is the Statehouse Liaison and Policy Analyst at the Buckeye Institute. Lawson graduated summa cum laude from Ohio State University in 2000 with a Major in Communications and a Minor in Economics.
He has served as a Legislative Service Commission Intern in 2001 working with a state representative and then served in numerous government affairs roles focusing on a wide range of public policy issues and PAC development.
Other positions Lawson has served in include as a public relations strategist Director of Communications for a national hunting advocacy organization based in Columbus, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance.
Lawson has been active at the grassroots level in numerous local, county and statewide political campaigns since 2002.
