BIOGRAPHY OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

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Tom Butch

Tom Butch, a Columbiana County land owner, is married with two children. Tom lives on Conkle Road in Salem and has worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a Mining Inspector for 22 years. He has a bachelor of science degree in Conservation of Natural Resources from Kent State University.  Among his affiliations are: the Leetonia Sportsmans Club where he has been an officer for 15 years and the Columbiana County Federation of Conservation Clubs where he has been an officer for 12 years. He has served as a Hunter Education Instructor for the Ohio Division of Wildlife for 15 years. For three years, Tom has been on the board of supervisors for the Columbiana Soil and Water Conservation District and is currently chairman of the Friends of the Park, a non-profit group set up to help the Columbiana County Park District. Tom is 54 years old.
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Gene Courtney

Gene Courtney of Salem is a real estate broker and founder of Courtney's Real Estate and Auction Sales that has offices in Alliance and Salem. Gene is also a builder, developer and a state certified real estate Appraiser. Gene says, “I am on the steering Committee for the reason I wanted to be sure that all people of Columbiana County are able to live where they want to live and be able to enjoy the American dream at a cost they can afford.”
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Joan Emerson

Joan Emerson and her husband have lived in Columbiana County for 35 years. As a child she remembers trips to Firestone Park to swim and has always loved the unique rural beauty of the county. Joan attended Purdue, OSU, Lake Erie College for Women and YSU. When she and husband Tom, a Canfield dentist, had the opportunity to purchase an historic home on 65 acres in Center Township, they sold their Boardman home and moved so that their children could grown up in a small town with a rural atmosphere. Joan has coached competitive swimmers in Boardman, Lisbon and Alliance and while coaching in Lisbon was awarded the American Legion Award for an undefeated season. Joan and her husband raised registered Morgan horses and have a certified working tree farm. Joan’s children are married and continue to live in Columbiana County with her five grandchildren.

 “After 35 years we’re finally seeing some significant changes in the county. Increasing recognition of county assets plus sub urbanization pressures from surrounding counties could lead to an explosion in growth of our population and commercial activity. The residents need to organize to face that possibility. A comprehensive land use plan will give us a quasi shield to the devastation of unmanaged growth,” Joan said in explaining why she is volunteering her time to help develop a County Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
   
Donald Floding

Donald Floding was born in Columbiana County and received a bachelor of science in Urban Planning and a master of science in Town and Regional Planning from Iowa State University.  As a young man he worked on the family farm and held other local jobs including working in Salem factories. Donald is a U.S. Army veteran.  For four years, he was on the staff of the Mahoning County Planning Commission and for approximately ten years as a county planning director in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.  He worked on planning and environmental matters for the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. He has also worked for the U.S. Department of Defense, Air Force and Army, on land use issues, contaminated site restorations, and hazardous waste management.  Prior to retiring in 2001, he served as Chief of the Environmental Division on an Army base in Pennsylvania. 

The Floding family has resided in Columbiana County since the 1850's.  Donald and his wife Patricia live in Madison Township and also own land in Center Township.  A son, daughter- in- law and three children ages 9, 5 and 3, live in Center Township. Donald became a member of the County Land Use Task Force in order to use his education and considerable experience so that in the future his family and other county citizens will have lower taxes and enjoy a better environment than they would have without the guidance of a good county plan.
   
Vince Hoover Vince Hoover has lived in Columbiana County for forty years, the last 28 years near Gavers. He attended Salem City Schools and earned an associate degree from KSU Salem in Electrical Electronic Technologies and Master Home Inspector certification from HONDROS College, Columbus. His six years in the U.S. Navy included a tour of duty in Vietnam. Currently he is a maintenance supervisor at FMP Inc. in Mogadore, (previously part of FERRO Corp. Sebring) where he has worked since 1982. He also owns Hoover’s Home Inspections.  For 16 years, Vince was Wayne Township’s Fiscal Officer and currently serves as Wayne Township Trustee. He is a member of the Columbiana Township Association, Ohio Township Association, VFW of Washingtonville, American Legion in Leetonia, the Salineville Kiwanis and the Farm Bureau.
   
Gloria Mathews

Gloria Mathews grew up on a farm just outside of Lisbon and did what many have done-- went off to college and then sought a career in the “Big City.” Following a successful career as a financial journalist working in Pittsburgh, New York and London, she returned after nearly 40 years to the family homestead in Center Township. Her roots in the County are deep with her mother’s family coming to the “Scots’ Settlement” in Yellow Creek Township in 1802 and her maternal great grandfather was a county commissioner from 1889 to 1893. Her father’s family came to the county in the very early 1900s and in 1918 to the farm where she now lives with her husband.  Her paternal grandfather is in the Columbiana County Agriculture Hall of Fame. After the excitement of city life, Gloria enjoys driving on back country road with no lines, seeing cows in pastures and watching farmers work the fields.
   
Ernie Oelker Ernie Oelker currently is the Columbiana County Extension Agent, Agriculture, and
Natural Resources, a position he has held since 2000. Previously he was an Ohio State University Extension agent in Trumbull, Stark and Summit and Perry counties. From 1978 until 1986 he was a self-employed dairy farmer in Hanoverton and has taught farm business planning at the Mahoning County Joint Vocational School and was a technical coordinator at the OSU, Agriculture Technical Institute in Wooster. Ernie earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in dairy science from Ohio State University.
   
Sam Tritten Sam Tritten is a native of Columbiana County and a third-generation landowner in Center Township. His property includes more than 400 acres of agriculture and wetland, much of which has been in his family since 1918. Sam attended Youngstown State University and was involved in the transportation industry before retiring in 2003. He and his wife live in a home constructed primarily of materials recycled from Lisbon’s old Lincoln School that was built in1843. Sam’s interest in wildlife, local history and the environment are fueled by features of his property which encompass a hundred acres of wetland that is a major bird and waterfowl sanctuary and a major section of the historic Sandy and Beaver Canal that includes four locks. While Sam’s desire is for the county to advance and thrive, he wants to ensure the continuation of the rural charm that has been the hallmark of Columbiana County.
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Cynthia Koonce A native of Western Pennsylvania, Cynthia Koonce received a bachelor of  science degree from Johns Hopkins University. Cynthia moved to Columbiana County in 1992 from Maryland. She was a realtor for 35 years and currently runs a 300-ewe commercial sheep flock on a 230-acre farm at Guilford Lake. She is a member of the Farm Bureau and serves on a number of sheep industry committees. Cynthia is married and has an adult daughter.