Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel

Board Composition and Responsibilities

By law, the bipartisan board is made up of nine members, three each representing residential consumers, organized labor and family farmers. These board members are appointed by the Ohio Attorney General for a term of three years. They are confirmed by the Ohio Senate.
 

2013 Board Meeting Schedule

The board conducts regular public meetings in Columbus, usually at OCC's office on the 18th floor in the One Columbus building (10 West Broad Street, Suite 1800). Meetings are conducted under the Open Meeting Law.

Archived Meeting Minutes and Agendas

Current Governing Board Members

If you would like to write to any of OCC's Governing Board members, you may send correspondence to the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, 10 West Broad Street, 18th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215-3485, or e-mail your correspondence to:occ@occ.state.oh.us.

Gene Krebs, chairman

Chairman, 2012 – 2013
Vice chairman, 2011 – 2012
Board member, 2005 – 2013
Representing residential consumers
Hometown: Camden

Gene Krebs spent three years on the Eaton City School Board, eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives, four years as Preble County Commissioner, and five years on the Preble County Planning Commission. While in the Ohio House, he chaired the Economic Development and Small Business Committee, and served on the Finance and Appropriation Committee and the Farmland Preservation Task Force. He saw ten of his bills and many amendments passed into law. Until recently he was a senior executive with a small think tank in Columbus where he enjoyed equal success in moving state policy.

He has been published in the national media on farm policy. Gene is on the board of the Ohio Math and Science Coalition. He received the Watchdog of the Treasury Award in 1996, 1998, 2000 and received the Star Award from Miami University for outstanding volunteer work. In addition, he was the recipient of the Friend of the Taxpayer Award in 1997. He is a former inter-collegiate fencing coach and has published in a peer reviewed scientific journal on animal behavior. He spent several years as a full time professional farmer.

Since leaving state political office, he has served on the Joint Committee on High Technology Start-up Business, Sales Tax Holiday Study Committee (Chair), and the Eminent Domain Task Force, all by legislative appointment. He was appointed by Governor Ted Strickland to serve on Ohio's 21st Century Transportation Task Force and most recently by Governor John Kasich to the Local Government Innovation Council. He has been appointed or reappointed to the Ohio Consumers' Counsel Governing Board by both Republican and Democrat Attorneys General. Gene also appears on a regular basis on the television show Columbus on the Record.

Joe Logan, vice chairman

Vice chairman, 2012 – 2013
Board member, 2007 – 2013
Representing family farmers
Hometown: Kinsman

In addition to being an active farmer, Joe Logan serves as director of agricultural programs for the Ohio Environmental Council. He is the past president of the Ohio Farmers Union and served on the board of directors of the National Farmers Union, where he was chairman of the Budget and Audit Committee and vice chairman of the Legislative Committee. He previously served as president of the National Association of Farmer Elected Committees, representing the interests of locally elected committees in the 2,500 Farm Service Agency offices nationwide.

Jason D. Clark

Board member, 2012 – 2015
Representing organized labor
Hometown: Dayton

Jason Clark serves as the business representative for the members of Millwright Local 1090, a statewide organization that is a division of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. He previously served in various positions with both the Cincinnati and Dayton AFL-CIO's.

Sally A. Hughes

Board member, 2011 – 2014
Representing residential consumers
Hometown: Columbus

Since 1987, Sally A. Hughes has served as president and chief executive officer of Caster Connection, Inc. a company she founded upon completion of a professional singing career. Caster Connection is an industrial products manufacturer and distributor whose principle products lines include industrial casters and wheels but focus mainly on ergonomic material handling solutions. Ms. Hughes founded and leads the business based upon the solid principle: "providing ergonomic caster and wheel solutions to decrease injuries in the workplace".

Hughes began the business by selling chair casters out of the trunk of her car but quickly began providing heavy duty casters and wheels to industrial companies. A creative suggestion to General Motors Corporation to consolidate their purchasing and select Caster Connection to provide products to their Northeast Ohio factories moved the business to a new level. This approach was then utilized with other industrial companies with multiple locations.

As the nationwide move to reduce on the job injuries gathered momentum Hughes led Caster Connection's effort to advance ergonomic safety solutions. The company became recognized for their innovative solutions for moving heavy equipment. Caster Connection used its experience in safety advancement and applied it to the automotive industry, food service, commercial laundry, and bakery industries. Twenty five years later this multi-million dollar company serves thousands of companies throughout the United States and Canada.

Hughes serves on the Board of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), the Women's Presidents Organization (WPO), Herbein Women's Leadership Council, and the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She is on the Board of The Wellington School, Women's Leadership network Advisory Council for Otterbein University, and the Ohio Consumers Counsel, appointed by Attorney General Mike DeWine. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of women in business including the 2008 National Woman Economic Development Outreach (WEDO) Broadcast Tour. She is a community volunteer with particular interest in children's hospitals, The Wellington School, and maintains her interest in singing through active participation with her church.

Tony Jones

Board member, 2013
Representing organized labor
Hometown: Canal Winchester

Susheela D. Suguness

Board member, 2012 – 2015
Representing residential consumers
Hometown: Dublin

Susheela Suguness cofounded Prime Engineering & Architecture, Inc. (PRIME) with her Husband Sugu Suguness, who is also an Engineer. PRIME is a Columbus, Ohio based professional design firm, founded in 1992, that specializes in providing Civil and Structural Engineering, Architectural Design, Construction management and Inspection services. Twenty years later, Prime has six other offices and providing services to Federal, State and Local agencies throughout the Country.

Suguness, as the former CEO of Prime, was responsible for day-to-day management of all aspects of business operations. She along with Prime is proud to be a founding member and contributor to the John E. Foster Minority Engineering Scholarship Fund. Since 2009, the fund has awarded six full scholarships to Columbus area students pursuing undergraduate engineering degrees.

Suguness has served in various capacities in several organizations. She has served on the Board of Women Transportation Seminar (WTS) Columbus, which is dedicated to the professional advancement of women in transportation. She served as the President of Asian Indian American Business Group (AIABG) of Columbus, Ohio. AIABG is one of the largest business groups in central Ohio, representing predominantly entrepreneurs of Indian decent. Through its membership, AIABG brings awareness to the Indian business community of their obligations and responsibilities as citizens of Central Ohio and United States of America.

Suguness is a civil engineering graduate from one of the prestigious colleges in India, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, India and a proud graduate from the University of Florida with a Masters in Engineering.

Michael Watkins

Board member, 2010 - 2014 
Representing organized labor 
Hometown: Elida

Michael A. Watkins has served as a member of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Lima Lodge #21 since 1976 when he began his career as a police officer in the city of Lima. He currently is serving his third term as president of FOP Lodge #21 after working for 12 years as its secretary. Mr. Watkins was the trustee of the FOP's 6th district from 1993-1995 and re-elected to the position which he has held since 2007. Mr. Watkins retired as an active law enforcement officer in 1999, but continued to work for the City of Lima Police Department as a civilian employee for 3 more years. As a civilian employee with the Lima Police Dept., Mr. Watkins developed a series of video and audio public service announcements and developed a television program demonstrating activities and the work of various special department units. He attended the Ohio State University-Lima campus where he studied psychology. Mr. Watkins is currently employed as an administrative assistant by the FOP, Ohio Labor Council, Inc. He has been in that position since 2003.

Fred Yoder

Board member, 2011 – 2014
Representing family farmers
Hometown: Plain City

As a fourth generation family farmer, Mr. Yoder is the owner and operator of Fred Yoder Farms. He is also a partner and executive vice president with Yoder Ag Services LLC, which markets farm seeds and consulting services.

Mr. Yoder currently serves as an Ohio delegate to the U.S.A. Poultry and Egg Export and U.S. Grains Councils; on the Ohio Corn and Wheat Political Action Committee, Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association, and Ohio Corn Marketing Boards of Directors; and as chairman of the Ohio chapter of the 25 by '25 Alliance and National 25 by '25 Adaptation Work Group. Mr. Yoder also is a past president of the National Corn Growers Association, past president of the Ohio Corn Growers Association, past chairman of the National Corn Growers Association Biotech Working Group, and was the winner of the 2010 Ohio Livestock Coalition Environmental Stewardship Award. He was also inducted into the State of Ohio Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2011.

Mr. Yoder has traveled extensively internationally and throughout the U.S. sharing information about biotechnology in farming and has been active in developing legislation to create market assurances for biofuels produced on the farm. He has testified on numerous occasions before the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture and Energy Committees and the House Small Business Committee, and has written many newspaper opinion pieces on issues important to Ohio and U.S. farmers.

Stuart Young

Board member, 2012 – 2015
Representing family farmers
Hometown: Springfield

A third generation dairy farmer, Mr Young is an owner of Young's Jersey Dairy Inc. in Yellow Springs, Ohio. At Young's he is responsible for the managing the farm operation, the Jersey herd, and is active in the cheese production.

Mr. Young has served on the Hustead Volunteer Fire Dept. for 32 years. He served a term on the Clark County Rural Zoning Commission and has been active in land use and farmland preservation activities. He previously served as Clark County Farm Bureau President and the Board of Directors for eight years. Served on The Ohio Farm Bureau's State Policy Development Committee and as a delegate numerous times. He is a lifelong member of the American Jersey Cattle Association.