Area leaders honor retiring Rep. Bob Gibbs
SUGARCREEK ― Area leaders paid tribute on Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs, who will be retiring after serving 12 years in Congress.
Gibbs, R-Lakeville, was the guest speaker at the Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce's legislative luncheon, held at Dutch Valley Restaurant in Sugarcreek.
Reflecting on his time in office, the congressman said that he and his staff had helped a lot of his constituents, and he had been actively involved in getting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make necessary repairs to the Zoar Levee.
"I'm pleased. I think we accomplished some good stuff," he told the news media following the luncheon.
The Holmes County resident was first elected to Congress in 2010 to represent the 18th District, which included all of Tuscarawas County. After redistricting in 2011, he represented the 7th District, which included only the northern half of the county.
In April, Gibbs announced that he would be retiring, saying that the redistricting process in Ohio had become a "circus" and criticizing the Ohio Supreme Court for taking weeks to deliberate on whether new congressional districts comply with the state's constitution.
The 7th District has been redrawn to include only Medina and Wayne counties, and parts of Holmes and Cuyahoga counties.
“It is irresponsible to effectively confirm the congressional map for this election cycle seven days before voting begins, especially in the 7th Congressional District where almost 90% of the electorate is new and nearly two thirds is an area primarily from another district, foreign to any expectations or connection to the current 7th District," the congressman said in making the announcement.
At the luncheon, several speakers thanked him for the help he has given Tuscarawas County.
"Congressman, I'd just like to say to you that words cannot express the gratitude we have for your service to New Philadelphia and Tuscarawas County and your service to our country. You will always be welcome as a member of our community," said New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day.
"Bob, I'm glad you're coming back home because in my mind we need you now more than ever. We need to learn from you how to fight the political forces that have taken over our federal government, who ignore the Constitution and the rule of law. You know the players and how they play their game, and I'm thinking you have a pretty good idea of how to defeat them here at the grassroots level."
Commissioner Al Landis added his praise.
"People don't realize who Bob Gibbs is. The reason that he's such a good U.S. representative is because he's just like us," he said.
The congressman also earned plaudits from Brad Bielski, dean of Kent State University at Tuscarawas, and Frank Polen, director of curriculum, instruction and adult education at Buckeye Career Center.
Gibbs said his future plans are still uncertain.
"I'll see what comes along," he said. "I'm concerned about the future of the country. I might have some impact one way or another somehow. I don't need to find a job, but I need to do something.
"I'm just concerned about the direction (of the country). We need to get it turned around because the path we're on right now is not a sustainable path. We can't keep spending trillions of dollars. We can't take people's freedoms away and erode entrepreneurship and innovation. We've got the threats from especially communist China, so that's a concern that we all need to be addressing.
"We can't be complacent. I think the American people sometimes become complacent and take things for granted. What we have in this country we should never take for granted. We all won the lottery when we were born in this country."
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Area leaders honor retiring Rep. Bob Gibbs