PREBLE COUNTY — Gene Krebs announced last week he will be seeking the 5th Ohio State Senate seat, and will file to be a candidate on the ballot for the 2018 election cycle.

State Senator Bill Beagle is leaving office in 2018 due to term limits. His work ethic and personality were a major reason Republicans were able to capture a seat traditionally held by the other party, according to Krebs. The district is all of Preble and Miami Counties, portions of Darke and Montgomery, including Harrison Township, Trotwood, parts of Clayton and most of the city of Dayton.

“I will be your voice for change, and the forces of status quo will oppose my efforts to reform Ohio. I need your help to achieve deep meaningful change in how we govern ourselves, and I will stand tall for reforms,” Krebs said.

“The 5th Senate seat represents a diverse portion of Ohio,” he continued. “It has vast areas of highly productive farmland. It has quaint small town and village downtowns that can and could bring more economic development. Dayton is the economic engine of much of the region, and faces a unique series of issues.”

“To represent this diverse district, you need someone with a diverse background,” he added. “Few have a background more diverse than mine.”

After graduating from college, Krebs returned to the family farm, where he was the seventh generation to farm in that corner of Preble County. After serving in a variety of public offices, ranging from school board to Ohio House of Representatives, to county commissioner, he left public office and farming to become an executive in a research organization that specialized in economic development, urban revitalization and farmland preservation. He later left that research group, and joined one that specialized in health care and human service policy issues.

Krebs left that research group when noted writer Phil DeVol, coauthor of Bridges Out of Poverty and author of Bridges to Sustainable Communities asked him to coauthor his next book. That book is expected to be published in January, and it builds on DeVol’s previous work in moving people out of poverty, and Krebs’ work on creating a better means of solving our political and policy differences.

Krebs has pledged to reduce reliance on local property taxes with school funding reform. It is HB 718 of the 123rd General Assembly. To see it go to http://archives.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=123_HB_718.

In addition, he says he has clear cut ideas to reduce the costs of welfare by using proven programs that get people back to work and in stable lives.

Krebs maintains we need to fix the problem, not the blame of drug abuse. Krebs was the prime sponsor and originator of the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” legislation in the Ohio House, but the jails just aren’t big enough. There are not enough Naloxone (Narcan) injections to overcome the scourge. There are “upstream issues” that cause drug abuse. When people abuse drugs we need to know why, and stop the core underlying reasons.

In order to seek the 5th Senate seat Krebs recently resigned as Chair of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Governing Board. During his five years as chair the residents of Ohio saved $800 million in costs and with the reforms initiated, Buckeyes will save just shy of $5 billion over the next nine years.

The ruling elite are afraid of Krebs pushing for better cell phone service in rural Ohio, and broadband that actually works. Without solving those issues, rural Ohio is in danger of becoming an economic backwater.

But Krebs is not just about rural issues; since leaving elected office he was one of the main drafters of the State Tax Credit for Historic Rehabilitation, the only tax credit which has a required cost benefit analysis, thereby keeping cronyism at bay. Locally this tax credit is being used in downtown Dayton to bring new life to The Arcade and in other projects near the baseball stadium. It has previously been used extensively in Piqua in renovating the downtown hotel.

Krebs also stated: “Now you get a sense of why I am running for office; it is to reform Ohio. You have read just some of my policy suggestions. I have a legion of opponents out there who like things just the way they are; I can only win with your support. This will be a tough race, the district has only recently been held by Republicans, and will be targeted by the opposition. The status quo will be gunning for me.”

As he did in the Ohio House, Krebs has pledged to read every bill before voting on it, and will publish a complete unedited voting record in every willing local newspaper and on his website. He will be your voice for change in Ohio, and will stand tall for conservative issues, such as life and the Second Amendment.

For more information go to www.genekrebs.com.