Published: 7/27/2007

Gardner asks governor to move agency here

State Sen. Randy Gardner (R., Bowling Green) yesterday requested that Gov. Ted Strickland move at least one cabinet-level state agency to northwest Ohio.

In a letter to the governor citing the importance of Lake Erie, the veteran legislator asked specifically for the relocation of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to Port Clinton, Sandusky, or Toledo.

Mr. Gardner said the natural resources department should move to northwest Ohio in order to be near Lake Erie, which he called Ohio s greatest natural asset.

I candidly acknowledge that little interest was expressed by the previous two [Republican] administrations, Mr. Gardner wrote to the Democratic governor.

Amanda Wurst, a spokesman for the governor, said state agencies have a responsibility to serve everyone in Ohio and can do that best from a central location.

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