This is a Moms Clean Air Force exclusive interview with Mansfield, Ohio Councilman Don Bryant.
What is unique about protecting your city’s resources?
In Mansfield, we’re home to many world class industries and have been a center of industrial production and technical innovation for decades. We are an industrial city. I want to help ensure there are fair environmental protections in place for our children and for the people of Mansfield. As someone with asthma, I know first-hand how important it is to work toward improving the quality of our air.
Why is a bipartisan effort so important to you when working on issues of air quality?
As an educator, and as a Councilman who represents the entire City of Mansfield, when I advocate for issues such as reduction of methane emissions from industrial oil and gas operations, I cannot help but to think about the children in Mansfield who have asthma and other respiratory concerns. There are many children in our country and throughout Ohio who cannot afford a rescue inhaler. Without an inhaler and in the event that a child or adult has an asthma flair-up or attack, it can become a life threatening situation. Improving air quality and locking-down unnecessary pollution to our environment cannot be put off any longer.
Are you worried about any specific effects of climate change on the children of your city?
The only way to truly reach our environmental goals is by working together and launching a bi-partisan effort.
Don Bryant is the youngest city councilman since 1967 to be elected at-large in Mansfield, Ohio. He began his public service in 2008 working as an intern in Washington D.C. for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, and also that year, as a campaign organizer for Senator Obama’s Presidential Campaign. Following the 2008 election, Mr. Bryant became an Assistant to Mansfield Mayor Don Culliver, and later accepted a position as a legislative aide with the Ohio House of Representatives. Mr. Bryant is a graduate of The Ohio State University and holds a B.S. in Political Science and International Relations with a concentration in Security and Intelligence and a Master’s Degree in Education with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction. In addition to serving the City of Mansfield as councilman-at-large he is an educator with Mansfield City Schools.