Monday, February 22, 1999
Milford minister joins council
BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MILFORD — Milford city council, which juggles downtown revitalization, infrastructure improvements and residential concerns, is used to handling weighty issues.
New member Brad Olson, who was sworn in last weekfollowing the resignation of Phil Gatch, has no political experience — and yet he has been tackling weighty situations for years:
• As minister at Milford First United Methodist Church.
• As a former national- and world-champion power lifter.
He said the same attributes that fueled his success in sports and religion are equally applicable in public office: perseverance, focus, a vision of what you want to accomplish and a game plan.
Mr. Olson doesn't have a political game plan because he never really gave thought to running for office. Then he ran into Jim Antell, a Milford council member, who asked him whether he would consider filling Mr. Gatch's term through November.
“I'd have to ask my wife (Dawn),” he recalled, “and she nudged me and said, "Say yes.'”
Mr. Gatch, who has served on council since 1995, told his colleagues he was stepping down to pursue other opportunities.
Mr. Antell, who replaces Mr. Gatch as council's chairman of the public service committee, called Mr. Gatch “the glue that kept everyone together.”
Mr. Olson said he envisions the next seven months as a chance to kick the tires of political life. The job pays $3,200 per year.
“Milford as a community is in a stage of growth and revitalization,” he explained. “But you need a solid understanding of the past.”
Mr. Olson is a father of three: Christopher, 16, Derek, 14, and Elizabeth, 12.
Mr. Olson said he owes his power-lifting success not to his size, but the lack of it. He's 5-foot-2, and growing up in Ithaca, N.Y., he got teased for being “horribly uncoordinated,” he said.
At Cornell University, Mr. Olson joined the crew team, where he realized he could keep up with his more physically gifted teammates.
He began weight lifting. In 1987, he won his first national power lifting title, followed a year later by his world title. He won again in 1995 and '96.
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