January 26, 1999
Legislator, citing term limits, to resign and take new job
By David Crawford
Staff Writer
State Rep. Randy Weston, whose district contains the eastern portion of Seneca County, said he will resign.
Weston (D-Morral) is resigning to take a legislative director position with AFSCME United, the legislative and political arm of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.
Weston expects to officially resign Feb. 2, at the next regular General Assembly session.
His replacement is to be selected by the Democratic caucus of the Ohio House of Representatives. Although the exact selection procedure still is being determined, Weston said that the new Democratic caucus leader, Jack Ford, assured him that the process would be open.
Weston said that he is leaving the House for two major reasons.
The first is term limits. Weston would not be eligible to run for another term in the Ohio House.
''Since I would not be eligible again, I have been looking for something if an opportunity came up. Working for AFSCME United is a great opportunity to help the working families of Ohio,'' said Weston.
The other reason is that AFSCME allows Weston the opportunity to continue working for the people of Ohio.
''At AFSCME, I will be monitoring, tracking and guiding others on the process of legislation through the Ohio General Assembly,'' he said.
This positions allows him still to be a part of the legislative process and work on issues that are important not only to the members of AFSCME, but for all working families in Ohio.
Although AFSCME does lobby members of the General Assembly, State law bars Weston from being a lobbyist for one year.
In reviewing his five terms in the Ohio House, Weston said that his greatest legacy is the 1994 ethics bill. This bill changed the rules on how legislators accept gifts, trips and other honoriarum.
He said that this bill let people know that their legislators are voting on the merits of a bill, not from some outside influence.
He wished that he would be able to complete a new, more equitable funding for Ohio schools. Seeing this issue to fruitation was the main reason that he ran for re-election in November, although he would not be eligible for continued service in the Legislature past 2000.
Seneca County Democratic Leader Wayne Hoover was sad to see Weston leave the general assembly.
He said that Weston has done a good job and has been a credit to the local Democratic party.