OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

2009-07-03

2009-07-01

2009-06-30

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Ottawa man seeks Kansas House seat

By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer

Former Ottawa school board member John Coen, Wellsville, has announced he is a Republican candidate for the Kansas House of Representatives in District 10.

Because Rep. Tom Holland is running for the state senate, District 10, which includes north Ottawa, northern Franklin County and southern Douglas County, is an open race.

“I am excited for the opportunity to represent the citizens of the 10th District,” Coen said. “We have serious issues to debate in our state.

“The 2008 Legislature that just adjourned left unresolved such major issues as a comprehensive state energy policy, immigration reform, property tax relief for all citizens and cost of living adjustment for KPERS recipients.

“Having lived in this district all my life I know I can voice the feelings of my neighbors.”

A former dairy farmer, Coen has been special assistant to Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt.

Coen is resigning his position in the Senate majority leader’s office to become a candidate.

“John has been a valued member of our staff,” Schmidt, R-Independence, said. “I’m going to miss his skills and talents in serving our constituents, but I wish him all the best as he pursues this new avenue for public service.”

Coen, 51, and his wife Cherry, an Ottawa High School teacher, have lived and farmed in the district all their married lives. Together, they operated a dairy in northern Franklin County. In October of 2006, they sold the cows and Coen joined Schmidt’s staff.

Besides being an Ottawa school board member four years, Coen served 11 years on the Ransom Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees, eight years on the Franklin County Farm Bureau board of directors and is a 25-year member of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce. Both Coen and his wife are long-time 4-H leaders and he has chaperoned 4-Hers to Washington D.C. for the Citizenship Washington Focus program for the last 10 years.

He is a 1985 graduate of Franklin County Leadership and 1999 Leadership Kansas graduate. Coen served on Governor Bill Graves’ Vision 2000 Task Force for Agriculture.

The Coen family are active members of Westminster Presbyterian Church of Ottawa. The Coens have four children.

One Democrat, Tony Brown, Baldwin City, has also filed for the seat.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

To post a new comment click here

Report an Offensive Comment

At www.ottawaherald.com, we are pleased to offer readers an opportunity to comment on articles. Readers are encouraged to engage in a lively, robust and civil debate -- as if comments were being submitted as verified letters for publication in print. Comments should not use names or otherwise identify private individuals or businesses. Avoid profanity and unfounded personal attacks. All comments will be subject to review before posting, but we cannot promise that readers will not find offensive or inaccurate comments. You will observe a delay between your writing a comment and its appearance on the site. Responsibility for posted statements lie with those who submit the comments, not The Ottawa Herald or www.ottawaherald.com. If you find a comment you believe to be objectionable, please report a comment by e-mail. We will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded that, in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on the Web site.

To post a new comment click here

0 comment(s)