Miamisburg has 4 choices for 3 city council positions
Candidates list utilities, development and safety as top priorities.
Four candidates MIAMISBURG — are vying for three Miamisburg City Council at-large seats this year in a race that includes two incumbents and a pair of challengers.
Current at-large Councilwoman Michelle Collins opted against seeking a second term and is running unopposed to replace retiring Mayor Dick Church Jr. Jeff Nestor and Alyse Rettich seek first terms while Ryan Colvin and Greg Thompson hope for re-election.
The three victors on Nov. 5 will win four-year terms to represent the entire city and be paid $10,640 annually. The city is near completion on a $70 million water and sewer system overhaul, a fiveyear project financed by annual customer rate hikes.
The project, approved by city council, addressed several Ohio Environmental Protection Agency mandates. But it caused many residents to question rising utility bills that, city officials said, had remained artificially low for decades.
Development has also become a concern in the areas of Benner/ Miamisburg-Springboro roads. Plans are in the works for two residential proposals that would bring more than 300 new homes that area residents said would raise safety, traffic and environmental risks.
The following are snapshots on all four candidates that include responses to questions submitted by the Dayton Daily News:
Ryan Colvin
Colvin, 42, is a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court bailiff and a three-term councilman. He said Miamisburg’s biggest chal
continued from B1 lenges are maintaining ser- vices, keeping a strong local economy and combating the heroin epidemic.
Colvin advocates “working cooperatively with neighbor- ing communities and ... further exploring the sharing of services.” Miamisburg’s tax-sharing agreements with Miami Twp. regarding Austin Landing and surround- ing land, as well as the Miami Crossing area around the Dayton Mall, is projected to generated millions of dollars for the city.
The city and the township also share the Miami Valley Fire District. The consolida- tion, officials on both sides have said, has saved millions of dollars and the district is operating at 2009 bud- get levels.
Meanwhile, Colvin favors the city’s practice of giving businesses tax deals to move to or stay in Miamisburg, saying the local economy must “continue to provide the needed revenue to support our critical services.”
He also supports the city having hired more police offi- cers and use of partnerships with regional treatment providers to curb drug issues.
T he city’s water and sewer overhaul — because of unfunded EPA mandates — was “the most difficult piece of legislation that I have considered” on council.
But “constituents I spoke with were heavily in favor” of the move, he said.
Jeff Nestor
Nestor, 66, operates an insurance business in Miamis- burg that has been fami- ly-owned since 1962. The first-time elective office seeker sees the most challenging issues for Miamisburg as safety, fiscal responsibility and infrastructure.
He sees his business expe- rience with handling budgets and his knowledge of the city by being involved in a number of community organi- zations as strengths for his candidacy.
He supports “reasonable, fiscally responsible programs that upgrade and maintain our infrastructure.”
The city’s utility-system overhaul put Miamisburg ahead of an issue facing “the entire region,” Nestor said.
But he said effective communication with customers is essential and he endorses the city rolling out a new program to deal with late customer payments.
“Adding email along with text messaging is clearly a good path to follow to include all customers in communications,” he said. “Further,
continued efforts to help customers identify leaks mid-bill- ing will reduce waste and unwanted excessive bills.”
Growth in undeveloped areas “needs to be tempered with wise development strategies,” he said.
“A mix of business helps isolate us from economic downturns,” Nestor added, “while new homes add to the housing market and helps keep our area relevant and thriving.”
Alyse Rettich
Rettich, 28, is a Montgomery County assistant prosecutor who has not held elec- tive office. She said the city’s water and sewer system overhaul, unnecessary spending, and the drug epidemic curbing crime are among the most significant issues facing Miamisburg.
Rettich said the city’s new utility infrastructure “is bur- dening citizens” and a flexible billing system for water services would help allevi- ate that issue.
She mentioned “keeping our citizens safe from violent crimes and property crimes that are impacting most towns and cities in Ohio” as part of the effort to combat the opi- oid issue.
The city has worked with the Montgomery County Drug Free Coalition and the coun- ty’s Getting Recovery Options Working program aimed at rehabilitating addicts, according to police.
From 2014 to 2016, the city recorded 37 drug overdose deaths, 10 coming in that final year, records show.
Overdose deaths then peaked in 2017 with 26, 20 of them in the first six months, according to the city. While overdose deaths have dropped since, opioids remain a concern.
Monitoring growth in unde- veloped areas such as Benner and Miamisburg-Springboro should be handled with “close contact with citizens. There is a need to really hear and address (their) concerns,” Rettich said.
Greg Thompson
Thompson, 40, is an operations manager of a pharmaceutical company and has served eight years on city council.
Notable challenges Miamisburg faces, he said, are prioritizing taxpayer dollars, continuing to focus on economic development with both cur- rent and future businesses, and continue neighborhood revitalization.
A key to the neighbor- hood issue is the Community Action for Revitaliza- tion, Engagement & Sustain- ability (CARES), a city-initiated program designed to engage citizens, community to improve neighborhoods and deter crime.
“It is our responsibility to maintain a high level of pub- lic safety, offer recreational options, improve infrastruc- ture, and complete projects to make the city better,” according to Thompson.
“All of these cost money and the biggest challenge will be allocating those dollars judiciously,” he said.
The city’s strategic plan – developed with residents’ input – asked Miamisburg leaders to create additional housing, Thompson said.
The planning commission is “diligent” that the new subdivisions off Benner and Miamisburg-Spring- boro “meet specific standards and complement the housing inventory that we already have in place,” he said.
“The two new neigh- borhoods will be well-constructed houses and will be attractive to a families, professionals and retirees.”