It was difficult only in the sense that I had to give up a job that I love in order to join the campaign, but it was not difficult in the sense that I saw it as a wonderful privilege and opportunity to work with Ted Strickland and the team that he had put together to turn around the state. And in the end, it was an opportunity of a lifetime that I couldn’t be happier that I accepted. 

I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. The governor and I had some conversations over the course of about nine months about the possibility, but we didn’t get into very serious conversations until sometime after Thanksgiving 2006. And I knew that he would have to make the decision sometime in January. I had some intense discussions with my wife, Peggy, and our two children, over a period of about 60 days, about whether this was something that we wanted to do.

What is the actual role of the lieutenant governor as indicated by the state?

The role of the lieutenant governor varies from state to state. It is defined by two things: statute and what the governor wants the lieutenant governor to do. And in Ohio, although the lieutenant governor has some responsibilities, the truth of the matter is a simple definition of the responsibility of the lieutenant governor is: the lieutenant governor assists the governor in any way the governor would like the lieutenant governor to assist him. And that’s really what it all comes right down to.

So the governor and I agreed early on in our partnership that this would be a partnership and that I wanted to bring the maximum value to him that I could to his campaign and eventually to his administration. And we came to an agreement that the best way I could do that would be to lead the Department of Development and to work with him to lead the development efforts of the state.

Your predecessor as lieutenant governor also had the development portfolio. Do you think development is a natural fit for a lieutenant governor or is it more tailored to the individual holding that office?

It think its more tailor-made to the individual. Having said that, the fact that I have the privilege of serving both as lieutenant governor and as director of development gives me the added advantage of being able to have a view of state government that goes well beyond the department, and working with the governor to make sure that economic development cuts across every cabinet department and not just this department.

What are some of your specific economic development goals?

It begins with focusing on the unbreakable link between educational attainment and economic prosperity: that everything we do needs to be connected in some way to our early childhood education, primary, secondary education, and higher education and lifelong learning system. That means that our priorities of economic development fall into the following categories: first, workforce development. Making sure that we develop a skilled, highly educated flexible workforce that is customized to the needs of existing and emerging businesses and industries in the state. That is among our top priorities. Another is investing in the strengths of the state. In other words, identifying and inventorying what we’re already very good at and what we’re already the best at and leveraging those strengths by further investing in them.

No state can be all things to all people. And no state can be great at everything. Where we need to invest our resources is where we already are very good and make us world class. Examples of that would be taking advantage of the strong defense and military capabilities that we have at Wright-Patterson and leveraging those strengths.

Another example would be the fact that we are already world leaders in the area of healthcare and investing in medicine and healthcare. A third example would be further investing in the automotive industry. Our economic strategy focuses on those areas more than anything else.

Development also includes projects and initiatives in other countries. What projects are you working on with Israel?

Ohio has an office in the state of Israel that we will continue to invest in. Rick Schottenstein is the current director of that office (in Tel Aviv) and he’s doing an excellent job. And I just recently had the opportunity to speak to a forum of Israeli medical companies that came to the Cleveland area to talk about doing some investments in Ohio, and actually co-locating some of their businesses and opening up offices in northeastern Ohio.

I want to continue that kind of effort but spread it around the state and basically transplant some of the best and brightest ideas and minds in Israel to the state of Ohio, either by convincing them to move their headquarters to Ohio or at a minimum co-locate their businesses so that they have offices both in Ohio and in Israel. We also want to continue to find ways to export products and services, but our main focus is direct investment by Israel in the state of Ohio.

(Editor’s note: Ohio has inter-national trade offices in 11 countries; corporations from 28 countries have investments in Ohio.)

How would you describe your Jewish background?

I’ve lived in the Cleveland area for 51 years and was raised at Suburban Temple in Cleveland. I’m still a member of the temple to this day. My wife is on the board of the temple. I was confirmed at that temple and my children were Bat Mitzvahed, Bar Mitzvahed and confirmed at that temple. And during the inauguration, I asked my rabbi to be one of the speakers at the ecumenical service that we had on the Saturday morning of the inaugural.

Where did your family émigrate from?

I actually commissioned a book to be written about my father and the history of when my ancestors came to this country. They émigrated from Russia and most of my family located in Pittsburgh. And then from Pittsburgh, my father’s parents moved to a small town in Ohio called New Philadelphia where they were one of the few Jewish families in the entire town.

But nonetheless, they felt it was important — despite the fact that there were literally less than a handful of Jewish families — that their children be raised Jewish and that they learn the Jewish religion. And so my father has instilled that and in some ways, I believe the fact that he grew up in a community that had very few Jewish families made his religious views even stronger, because he felt the value of the fact that his grandparents could have easily assimilated but decided that it was important enough to maintain their Jewish identity.

Have you ever experienced antisemitism on the campaign trail?

Yes. Very rare. Probably the most memorable instance was back in 1982, when I ran for the state senate and I went to an event where a man who had obviously had too much to drink stood up in front of a large crowd and said, “We don’t appreciate Jews being here.” And I was the only Jew in the room.

And what I remember most about the incident was that the room froze and not a single person in the room said anything. And I continued to stay in the room and to campaign and eventually the man decided not to make a commotion. But what I remember most about it is that no one in this particular organization that was sponsoring the event stood up and told him what he had done or said was wrong.

And one of the lessons that I learned from that incident was that most bigotry and prejudice that’s expressed in America today is expressed silently, meaning that it’s what people don’t do in the face of prejudice that is most concerning.

Obviously we are all offended and concerned about those people who are blatant in their bigotry. But those people, in some ways, are the least of our concerns, because we know who they are and they are at the margins of society. It’s the silent majority who don’t do anything in the face of bigotry or hatred that most concerns me and should be our major focus.

Has Judaism had an influence on your careers?

Yes. First, I’m very proud to be Jewish and want people to know I’m Jewish. And I think it’s important to be proud of your heritage and proud of your religion and particularly, when you’re a minority, to do that because I think that I have a responsibility as a Jewish elected public official to speak to the values of my heritage. I don’t wear my religion on my sleeve nor do I have much respect for any public official who does.

But having said that, my faith guides and informs what I do every day as a human being and so it’s a part of me and the words that I often quote from, which I believe are from the Talmud, are tikun olam, to repair the world. It’s something that I believe in, which is that we’re all put on earth to do something, to make the world better. And I have decided that for me, public service is the best way for me to play a hand in helping to repair the world to make it a better place.

Born in Ann Arbor and raised in Ohio — are you a Buckeyes fan or a Michigan fan?

I have been and always will be a Buckeyes fan. My wife went to Ohio State, I went to all Ohio schools, including college at Oberlin, law school at Case Western. So although I was born in Ann Arbor, I am an Ohioan, through and through.

© 2007 The Dayton Jewish Observer