Former state representative and veteran educator Clyde Evans heads a short list of candidates for the next Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) executive director, the Office of Budget and Management disclosed Tuesday, though the onetime legislative member of OSFC could face stiff competition from former OSFC Executive Director Richard Hickman Jr. and several professional engineers.

OSFC convened for a special meeting Tuesday, in addition to the regular monthly meeting scheduled for Thursday, and went immediately into executive session. The commission then regrouped in public session long enough to adjourn until later this week. 

After the meeting, state Budget Director Tim Keen, one of three voting members of the commission that also includes Department of Administrative Services Director Robert Blair and state Superintendent Deborah Delisle, would say little about executive deliberations but said an announcement is forthcoming on the directorship, which OSFC Chief Financial Officer Eric Bode has filled on an interim basis since January. 

“There will likely be a resolution to address that Tuesday,” Keen said, indicating the commission has been reviewing several candidates. 

Resumes include Evans’ and four others’: Hickman, of Westerville, who led the commission during former Gov. Bob Taft’s final two years in office; Dale Perram of Wadsworth, an electrical engineer and chairman of Perram Electric, Inc., a highway contracting firm; Fredrick Ahlborn of Marysville, a construction professional and former project administrator with OSFC following 26 years as a construction manager for the Ohio Department of Youth Services; and Mitch McCoy of Medina, a civil engineer recommended by Capitol Square attorney Luther Liggett Jr.

Evans’ own resume includes eight years in the House, including seven years on OSFC, and 30 years in administration at the University of Rio Grande, where he left as provost in 2002. The Rio Grande resident has also taught in public schools and served as a principal, school counselor and basketball/baseball coach.

Apparently, one of the five candidates will be named the commission’s next executive director on Thursday.

Also Tuesday, Keen said OSFC will be reviewing the issue of project labor agreements that hobbled the administration of former commission director Richard Murray.

“There should be some resolution to address these matters in the near future,” he said.