Barbara B. Lewis was elected to the Board of Genoa Township Trustees in 2007, chaired the Board in 2008, and again in 2010.
Her main goals in office have been to ensure the efficient delivery of excellent public safety and maintenance services at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers, and to protect the Township’s green spaces and enhance its park and recreation areas. She has also worked to improve community-government communications through the Township’s newsletter, website and other internet media.
Barb was raised in Genoa Township and attended Big Walnut High School. She earned her B.A., Masters and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University, where she has taught Political Science and was awarded the Distinguished Member designation of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
She is also an independent political strategist and consultant who has worked in the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Strategic Research and managed a number of successful local and statewide election campaigns. Currently, she chairs the campaign for the reelection of an Ohio Supreme Court Justice in a non-partisan race. She also served as political director for an eight-term United States Congresswoman.
Barb was president of Lake of the Woods #4 Neighborhood Association from 2004-2008 and was an active member of the 2005 Genoa Police and Fire Levy Committee. She also served on the Genoa Township Board of Zoning Appeals as an Alternate.
She currently serves as an appointed member of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Commission on Continuing Legal Education, which accredits and administers mandatory continuing legal education programs and activities for Ohio judges and attorneys. She is also the Delaware County Commissioners’ appointed representative to the County Law Library Resource Board.
Barb is a member of the Governing Board of the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute, established by the first woman Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives to encourage the political leadership of women throughout the state.
She also served, by appointment of the Governor and confirmation of the Ohio Senate, as the Consumer Representative on the Board of Motor Vehicle Collision Repair Registration from 1998-2006.
Her husband of 40 years, Jim, practices law and they have two sons, a daughter-in-law and three granddaughters. Barb and Jim are active parishioners of Church of the Resurrection Catholic Church.
Among their family interests, in addition to grandparenting, Barb and Jim love the great outdoors. They have devoted the past several years to the development of a private biological reserve in a rural area of Costa Rica, in partnership with local landowners, as a sustainable ecotourism project dedicated to the conservation of tropical rainforest and wildlife, with special emphasis on birding. They also enjoy boating together on Hoover Reservoir and the tranquility of the Township’s beautiful reserved areas.