Drive Thru Voting for Board Election
2020 Board of Supervisor Election
Licking County Soil & Water Conservation District has a five-member Board of Supervisors elected by landowners and residents of Licking County. As unpaid Public Officials, the Board members are responsible for conducting business within the scope of the laws and administrative rules that govern LCSWCD. Board members also help guide Soil & Water’s mission with professionalism, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Each candidate provided their thoughts on why Soil & Water’s mission was meaningful and explained what they saw as the three biggest natural resource challenges facing Licking County during the next five years.
Kim Byce lives in Granville Township and is the Homestead Coordinator at Denison University. As a mom of three, she knows she is borrowing the earth from her children and theirs. Licking Soil & Water empowers her and other sustainability-minded residents of the county with knowledge and resources to ensure a viable, abundant future for all.
Three challenges:
1. Making Licking Soil & Water’s resources and opportunities more accessible and engaging to a larger population of county residents, homeowners, and consumers.
2. Finding financial incentives or other assistance to help landowners make environmentally conscious (but sometimes expensive) choices.
3. Strengthen and publicize connections among like-minded entities and organizations to create a county-wide culture of conservation.
Bill Goodman is completing his first term on the Licking County Board of Supervisors and currently serves as a Director for the Ohio Federation of Soil & Water Conservation Districts.
Soil & Water offers assistance in many areas – land preservation, mini-grants, stormwater management, etc. – to promote conservation in this diverse county.
Three challenges:
1. Logjams- Almost every creek or stream has developed logjams in the past few years. Working on removing them will be challenging.
2. Cover Crops- Continue to encourage the cover crop program by offering as much cost-share as possible.
3. Continue to work with developers in urban settings by stressing the needs for conservation in all areas of construction.
Rhonda Reda lives in Pataskala and has been recognized with numerous awards for STEM-related education programs related to natural resources.
I have been involved in natural resources for almost 35 years. Licking County Soil & Water Conservation District is very meaningful to me because I have seen first-hand how working with local leadership and creating educational programs can be very useful.
1. Education on water quality and healthy soils for agriculture production. Encourage the development of additional public outreach programs to educate the general public. Review and help execute established Strategic Plans.
2. Establish more partnerships with various community groups, community leaders and educators to provide additional outreach within Licking County and help create special programs that could be adopted by other Soil & Water Districts.
3. Lack of information about natural resources to youth. Need to create better social media and electronic platforms to reach millennials, GEN X, GEN Y and GEN Z. Become a permanent resource for conservation information. Create additional programs that will engage young children and adults.
