By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
State Rep. Tim Brown, R-Bowling Green, is stepping down from the Statehouse to return to his roots.
Brown was hired as director of the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments on Wednesday. The move ends his 27-year career in government, but returns him to grassroots public service that he found most rewarding.
“It was the time I spent with Jim and Alvie, at the local level, that I enjoyed most,” Brown said referring to his years as Wood County commissioner with Jim Carter and Alvie Perkins.
“Now I’ll have a chance to do it again,” Brown said this morning. “It’s the local stuff that matters to people. It kind of feels like I get to come home to those issues again. The public service isn’t ending on my part.”
The decision to give up the Statehouse for the TMACOG leadership position was tough. “It’s bittersweet,” he said. “This path provides me with the opportunity to do the work I really enjoy doing.”
Brown will probably start his new job in mid-July. His salary has not yet been set.
Brown started his career in public service working for Congressman Paul Gillmor for eight years. He then served as county commissioner for 15 years, and is now in his fourth year as a state representative.
He was not looking for a new job, but was approached by a few people about the difficulty TMACOG was having filling the top position. “The more we talked, I realized this is the work I enjoy. It turned out to be a remarkable opportunity,” he said. “It’s an opportunity I just couldn’t say ‘no’ to.”
Though Brown was not being pushed out of office yet by term limits, that reality did play a part in his decision. “Here I am, four years into the job, and my eligibility is half over,” he said.
That realization was combined with the rare opening for such a job as director of TMACOG. “It’s not a position that comes along very often,” he said, noting that it has been 25 years since the agency has done an outside search for a leader.
Though much of TMACOG’s work is done behind the scenes, Brown said the agency’s impact is great for the region. “Its work is profound.”
Brown will be taking over at the time with some big issues looming in the region – one being water quality and water distribution, which TMACOG released a study on Wednesday.
“Here we are at the foot of the Great Lakes,” with vast quantities of water, yet good drinking water is an issue, he said.
Brown’s exit from the House leaves an opening during an election year. According to Brown, the Speaker of the House will decide the process for replacing him. That replacement will likely appear on the fall ballot, Brown added.
“I have not heard from anyone. I’m sure there will be a lot of people thinking about it. This area is rich in talent,” Brown said.
State Senator Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, said this morning that Brown served Wood County very well.
“Tim Brown was one of those legislators, that in an era of term limits, came in and made significant differences right away,” he said.
Brown came to the House with great qualifications and ready to work, Gardner said.
“He was a strong asset for Wood County. He did a really, really good job.”
