Dover law director appointed to same position in Uhrichsville
UHRICHSVILLE (WJER) (May, 25, 2023) – Dover and Uhrichsville will have the same law director once JJ Ong is sworn in as Tuscarawas County’s next Southern District Court judge.
Doug O’Meara will be handling both cities’ legal affairs beginning next week after being appointed as Ong’s replacement through the end of the year. He’s confident he will be up to the task since he held both positions before now-State Rep. Brett Hillyer became Uhrichsville’s law director in 2013.
“I think that was part of [Mayor] Mark [Haney]’s desire to have somebody who was familiar with the workings down there, and I think I’m familiar with enough of the ongoing things. I’ve participated in contracts with police, fire, ASFME, various unions.”
Haney says he interviewed a few other local attorneys before offering the position to O’Meara.
“I felt like Doug was the best fit to finish out the year. He’s familiar with the city of Uhrichsville, how everything works. He was the law director here when I was a councilman years ago.”
Dover Councilwoman Gina Space defeated O’Meara in the Democratic primary and will become the law director there on January 1st.
Voters are supposed to select Uhrichsville’s next law director in November, but there’s no one in the race at this point. The filing deadlines have passed for partisan and independent candidates, so anyone interested in a full four-year term would have to run as a write-in.