Oak Harbor native Leutz's path to prosperity

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Oak Harbor’s John Leutz is historic as one of the first three people employed by the Ohio Senate in a non-clerical role. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Department of Administrative Services Director Robert Blair were the other two Republicans hired along with Leutz to help formulate policy for GOP senate leaders. Leutz spent his formative political years at the elbow of Old Fort’s legendary Paul Gillmor, the Senate president leading the only Republican-controlled body with just a one-vote majority, for much of the 1980s.

In a caucus with a one-vote margin, any senator can scuttle the agenda so every senator has status as the key to every accomplishment — or failure. John Leutz learned a lot simply watching Paul Gillmor get things done with high ego colleagues such as John Kasich, who went from staffer to senator in 1978, former U.S. Senator and current Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer, to name just a few of the players still on the scene.

John Leutz took his Gillmorian gift for seeing the big picture and moving relentlessly toward his objective in low key fashion to the Columbus suburb of Grandview Heights. Leutz spent six years on city council before being elected mayor in 1992 and it is clear in the nearly 20 years since he left office just how much enduring value Leutz created.

Now, Grandview is a destination, one of the hottest spots in red-hot Columbus. But truth be told, when John Leutz started in local leadership Grandview was a downscale little hamlet between Columbus and Upper Arlington. “We had to build some buzz with business people, we had to create some momentum and get noticed,” Leutz recalled over a recent breakfast reunion. “Grandview was like a closed community that didn’t attract anyone from the outside and the local businesses were just getting by, they weren’t thinking big.”

John Leutz, as was Paul Gillmor, is a very easy person to get along with. Leutz made sure Grandview was an easy place to do business, taking care to make sure the hassles of dealing with Columbus or Upper Arlington were mostly avoided by bringing a project to Grandview.

Soon the commercial districts of the Leutz-led town had new, one-of-a-kind bistros and businesses started by owners who had bet all they had on the little community. “When we had one new hot restaurant it was dangerous, because one spot alone can go cold. But pretty soon we had six or eight in a cluster and we became a destination, making each one of the new restaurants more prosperous,” Leutz said.

To really make Grandview pop, Leutz moved to secure a large chunk of developable land where the community could once offer only small parcels and only prospect small projects. “Every time I go by Grandview Yard I am gratified by the results of that effort,” Leutz said with a smile. Today the 125-acre site is home to more than 3,000 office jobs, two hotels and an event center, apartments and condos and a huge increase in revenue for Grandview.

Leutz is a frequent visitor to both Ottawa and Sandusky counties and has great confidence that the raw elements of revival exist in both downtown Port Clinton and downtown Fremont. “It’s no different than Grandview was, they need to build the buzz and create a cluster that brings people to them. I would make sure the upper floors of the buildings downtown were easy for apartment conversions. People living within walking distance will make things happen for the commercial space on the street.”

Free advice from a quiet guy with a record that shouts "success!" Grandview before John Leutz was nothing like Grandview after John Leutz. Because of Leutz, the big problem now is real estate values that have skyrocketed, leaving the school system underpopulated because young families can no longer afford to live in Grandview.

The day is rapidly approaching when Leutz will retire from his position as a lobbyist for the Ohio County Commissioners Association and very likely return to our region. The ability to tap the expertise of the architect of an economic development program that would be a stunning change of fortune for any Northwest Ohio community able to replicate the Grandview story is a resource that must be utilized.

John Damschroder, a Fremont native who worked in Gov. George Voinovich’s administration, writes about business and economic development in Sandusky County.
http://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/local/2017/01/03/damschroder-oak-harbor-native-leutzs-path-prosperity/96101566/