Former Youngstowner gets a top state post

YOUNGSTOWN — Gov. Ted Strickland appointed a former Youngstown resident to serve as director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

Henry Guzmán, 59, will begin his new job in the Democratic governor’s Cabinet Feb. 12. His annual salary will be $128,544.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to use my years of experience in agency management and public service to keep Ohioans safe and secure and to also maintain an effective and efficient Department of Public Safety,” he said.

Guzmán has about 25 years of experience in management and public policy. Since January 2004, he’s served as director of the Columbus public service department, overseeing about 1,000 employees and an annual budget of about $100 million. In that role, he was acting mayor when Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman was out of the city.

Guzmán was born in Puerto Rico and reared in Youngstown. He received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Youngstown State University.

In 1972, he was named the first director of the Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americanaok in Youngstown. The organization is a social-service agency that addresses the needs of Hispanics in the Mahoning Valley.

Guzmán was appointed in 1981 to a seat on the Youngstown Board of Education, and was elected to the board in 1983.