Gov. John Kasich is speaking out about why he fired the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture last week.
David Daniels says he was surprised when he was called into Kasich’s office last week and fired. But Kasich says it came down to protecting Lake Erie.
“I feel very strongly about the lake and as we get into transition, I want to make sure I have somebody there who is fully on board with that and sometimes change is necessary,” Kasich said.
Kasich says he’s disappointed lawmakers and farmers want to just look into actions that might help stop algae blooms in the lake. He says it’s been studied and he wants action, and that it’s unacceptable to continue to allow it to be polluted with runoff from farms. Daniels says he joined farmers in their reservations about an executive order Kasich signed this summer that created tougher rules on fertilizer and nutrient runoff.
