By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
After 42 years of public service, Randy Gardner is retiring – at least for now.
“On Jan. 1, I will be unemployed for the first time since Otsego hired me in 1981,” Gardner, of Bowling Green, said Thursday afternoon from his office as chancellor with the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
Gardner, who represented Wood County for 33 years in the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, said nothing should be read into the timing of his announcement.
“It’s just time,” he said. “There are no specific plans, but I am not ready to retire from working in the education arena.”
He has already been nudged by some to return to public service in the state legislature.
“Some people have encouraged me to consider that. But I have no expectation that I would do that,” he said. “I did truly enjoy public service in the House and Senate. I wouldn’t make a promise never to consider that.”
“I have no specific plans. I love public service. I love Wood County,” he said.
But on Thursday, Gardner, who recently turned 65, was focused on serving out the remainder of his term as chancellor.
He cited successes as chancellor, with the state increasing need-based financial aid for higher education students by 84%, creating the first merit-based scholarship program, and doubling funding for STEM scholarships.
“We established a lot of pro-student programs that really help with college affordability,” he said. “I’m very pleased we were able to make college more accessible.”
Gardner said he was also pleased that DeWine bought into the concept that all forms of higher education have value.
“He embraces the ‘all of the above approach’ in Ohio,” which focuses on letting students and their families decide the right path to higher education, whether it’s in the trades, community colleges, bachelor, master and doctorate programs.
Bowling Green State University President Rodney Rogers had praise for the Gardner’s work as chancellor.
“We are so appreciative of Chancellor Gardner’s longtime public service. He has always understood the transformative power of education and how it makes the world better,” Rogers said. “Through his staunch support of higher education, he has created a great deal of public good for his alma mater, Bowling Green State University, and all of Ohio.”
Gardner, who started as a history and government teacher at Otsego, has always been an advocate for education.
“I appreciate and value all education,” he said, noting he now sees the need for stronger collaboration between K-12 and higher education.
As chancellor, he serves in the Governor’s Cabinet, overseeing the state’s two-year and four-year colleges and universities and adult career centers. In addition, the chancellor provides policy guidance to the governor and the Ohio General Assembly and carries out state higher education policy.
Before becoming chancellor, Gardner served a combined total of 33 years in the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, where he served in seven different elected leadership positions.
Gardner is believed to hold the all-time Republican record in years served in leadership positions, a total of 19 years including Senate Majority Leader and House Speaker Pro Tem.
During his 33 years in the Ohio House and Senate, he never missed a vote. He logged 10,433 consecutive roll call votes on bills, amendments and resolutions, earning him the nickname “the Cal Ripken of the state legislature.”
In 2019, Gardner’s voting streak ended. But his service to Ohioans continued as he was sworn in as the next chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
The chancellor position allowed Gardner to pair his passions for education and public service.
He carried that same work ethic to the chancellor’s office, visiting 74 individual college campuses and participating in more than 100 campus meetings throughout Ohio, all in his first year in office before the pandemic.
“I want to thank Chancellor Gardner for his years of service to the people of the state of Ohio,” DeWine said. “As a legislator and as chancellor, Randy Gardner has worked hard to make educational opportunities more accessible and to encourage cooperation of our institutions to work hand-in-hand with industries such as Intel to ensure that Ohio has the workers ready to fill the jobs of the future.”
Gardner has a reputation for doing his homework and completing projects once he’s begun. He has been praised for being a friend to public education and services for people with disabilities. He has been a defender of funding for public libraries and higher education.
Gardner helped secure large capital budget amounts for the Cocoon, the Wood County Senior Center and the Wood County Historical Center.
He was prompted to respond to issues after hearing from large crowds – or sometimes from one voice. Sierah’s Law is an example of one family’s pain being transformed into legislation for a statewide violent offender database. A conversation with one BGSU employee led to an amendment allowing the sharing of sick time for university employees.
Gardner is at home in settings that some elected officials find uncomfortable. He often hosted town hall meetings – where the public input can be unexpected.
“I’ve always believed being accessible and listening to constituents to be among my most important responsibilities,” Gardner said in 2019. “Even when there is disagreement, citizens deserve to be heard.”
His answers to questions weren’t popular with some citizens – but he got kudos for at least showing up and listening.
During a meeting of higher ranking GOP leaders in 2017 at the Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green, most politicians sped past a group of protesters lined up on sidewalks outside the club parking lot.
Though the protesters were trying to get the attention of national Republican leaders, it was Gardner who pulled over, got out and talked with the protesters for several minutes.
“He came up, shook hands and chatted,” one of the sign-holding protesters said. “Randy actually parked his car and got out.”
Gardner was equally at ease with his younger constituents. He sometimes hosted the Constitution Day Jeopardy game for fifth graders at the Wood County District Public Library.
Once he finished quizzing the students, he allowed them to put him in the hot seat. The students posed question after question.
How can he stay in politics so long? “That’s what a lot of people are asking,” Gardner said, smiling. But he talked about his commitment to public service. “I love what I’m doing.”
What year did he start in politics? The answer of 1985 brought out a chorus of “oooohhs,” from the young audience. “Yes, Ohio was a state then,” Gardner emphasized.
Gardner is not apologetic for his profession – as he explained to local citizens attending a “Civics 101” class held at a Bowling Green church.
“I know people are cynical about politics,” Gardner told the crowd. But individuals can make a difference in government. And despite what many people think, it’s not about the money for many politicians, he said.
It’s about the chance meeting with a physician at a Kiwanis pancake breakfast about the need for children to carry their asthma inhalers at school, or an emotional plea from a mom about the need for children to have comprehensive eye exams.
Local constituents are politicians’ bosses – based purely on their residency, not on their donations, he said.
Gardner told of a talk he gave to Conneaut students. He informed them that they were his boss. Days later, he received a colorful thank you card from one of the students, signed “Your boss, Savannah.”
Stepping down after 42 years of public service will be a strange experience for Gardner. He recalled a speech during a governor’s cabinet meeting last year, in which Jim Tressel spoke of “waking up everyday with an attitude of gratitude.”
That clicked with Gardner.
“Everyday I think about the people of Wood County who elected me 13 times to the House and Senate,” he said, allowing him to make a difference through public service. “I’m just grateful to have had those opportunities.”
