T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Future Belmont County Commissioner Vince Gianangeli is pictured on the steps of the Belmont County Courthouse, where the commissioners hold their weekly meetings.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County will officially have a new commissioner on Jan. 2.

Vince Gianangeli defeated incumbent Josh Meyer in the 2024 primary election in March to be the Republican nominee for Meyer’s seat on the Belmont County Board of Commissioners. Gianangeli then ran unopposed in the general election in November and will be the next commissioner.

Gianangeli has been involved with many organizations during his 30 years in public service. He has been a certified fraud examiner since 1994, Colerain Township’s fiscal officer since 2012, past president and current officer of the Sons of Italy lodge in Bellaire, St. John Central Academy fiscal manager, National Rifle Association member, Sons of the American Legion member and St. Clairsville Fraternal Order of Eagles member. He also was the Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services bureau chief from 2000 through 2004 until he became the DJFS director and chief financial officer from 2004 until 2020. He was an auditor of state manager from 1984 until 2000.

Gianangeli was terminated from the director’s job in February 2020 after he “disregarded a vote by the commissioners,” the board stated in a release. Gianangeli also released a statement about that matter, saying that two commissioners voted to terminate an individual within the DJFS whose resignation Gianangeli already had accepted. Gianangeli unsuccessfully ran on in the GOP primary against Republican Commissioner Jerry Echemann in 2022. He ran an unsuccessful campaign as an Independent in 2020 against Republican Commissioner J.P. Dutton.

Gianangeli said his main goal for his term as commissioner is to bring economic development to Belmont County. He added that the reason he ran for commissioner this late in his career was to further the county and make it better so that more businesses would be attracted to the county to create more jobs for residents.

“To bring economic development to Belmont County is my primary goal. It seems to be pretty stagnant over these last several years, and the population is actually decreasing,” Gianangeli said. “Whoever would think that our two cities St. Clairsville and Martins Ferry are close to becoming a village? When those sorts of things happen the government funding is cut — you get more money as a city than you do as a village, so we need to grow our population.”

He added that he believes the only way to grow the county’s population is to bring higher-paying jobs into the community, which will prompt more people to move here.

“If you look at the county’s census over the last decade or so, in 2010 we had 70,377 residents and in 2023 we have 64,900 residents, so that’s actually a 7.7% decrease in our population,” Gianangeli said. “Our median income for individuals is $28,521 and our household median is $56,943. We need to increase our population and increase our median income, and we can do that by bringing in large businesses with high-paying jobs.”

Gianangeli added that during his time as commissioner, he wants to see communities along the Ohio River developed. He believes that the infrastructure to develop the riverfront is already in place, citing the highways, railways and waterway available.

He said his second focus will be to see volunteers return to the Belmont County Animal Shelter.

“It’s free help, and I don’t understand why we wouldn’t want volunteers in place helping out there,” he said.

In 2023, the shelter became a hot-button issue with several residents voicing concerns about the shelter’s “no-kill” status. Gianangeli was heavily involved with that movement, which is believed to have played a role in him winning the election.

When asked what he believes is at the root of the conflict between the residents and the shelter staff, he said that he believes it was due to animals being euthanized despite the shelter being considered a no-kill facility.

Commissioner J.P. Dutton in November 2023 told concerned residents that a facility that euthanizes no more than 10% of its animal population is generally considered to be a “no-kill” shelter.

“When the animal groups found that out they went to the commissioners and brought it to their attention and became highly upset because they felt like it wasn’t being addressed the way that they wanted it to be addressed,” he said. “In my view, ‘no kill’ means no kill, even though by law there can be a percentage of animals killed in a no-kill shelter. The Vince Gianangeli definition of no kill means no kill.”

He added that he believes the shelter should have used a stronger marketing campaign to push out the word that there were animals there in need of adoption.

“I believe things are now going a little bit smoother, and I believe a lot of the euthanasia of the animals has stopped since it has been brought to the public’s attention.”

Lastly, Gianangeli said that he will fight for the residents of the Blaine area to try and speed up the reconstruction of the Blaine Hill Bridge, which is slated to be complete by 2027.

“I was recently asked for a public comment and my comment was that I believe if we were one of the “three C’s” Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati we would not have to wait until 2027,” he said.

He added that he believes the board of commissioners should voice its concerns about the issue to the Ohio Department of Transportation, and he believes the current commissioners have done so.

If the span is deemed to be safe by ODOT, Gianangeli said he would be in favor of one lane of the bridge being opened with temporary traffic lights installed to control the flow of vehicles. He said this would help to relieve the burden of the closure on residents and businesses in the greater Bridgeport area while the Blaine Hill Bridge is reconstructed.