Ohio school board member resigns due to lobbying conflicts

AKRON — State school board member Bryan Williams of Fairlawn resigned Monday, telling colleagues that recent media reports have made him aware that as a publicly elected official, he may have violated Ohio ethics law by lobbying the government for private interests.

“Adherence to Ohio ethics laws and advisory opinions of the commission charged with interpreting state ethics laws is of the utmost importance to me,” Williams wrote in an email to board president Debe Terhar, who forwarded the email to other members. “Therefore, I conclude it my duty to resign from the State of Ohio Board of Education, district 5 effective immediately so that a new board member may be appointed and serve unencumbered by other simultaneous vocations.”

The Beacon Journal of Akron and the NewsOutlet, a student journalism initiative based at Youngstown State University, produced a series of stories published the weekend of Nov. 17 outlining the state board of education’s political views, demographics and profiling of each of the 17 members.

Williams was appointed to a vacant elected seat on the state school board in 2011 by Gov. John Kasich.