City Manager Terry Emery, right, used the annual State of the City event, held Monday at Leon’s Garage, to help the community better know city council members. Above, council member Mark Reams talks about the city’s utility system and rates. Council member include, from left, J.R. Rausch, Reams, Scott Hunter, Steven Wolfe, Zack Bordner, Henk Berbee and Donald Boerger.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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City Manager Terry Emery used Marysville’s State of the City event to help residents know their council members, particularly the new members, better.
The city charter requires the city manager to provide a state of the city update to council and the community. In recent years, Emery has made the process more of an event than in years past when the address was read as part of a council meeting.
“I am doing my obligation here and I really enjoy it,” Emery said.
For three of the seven members, Monday’s event, held at Leon’s Garage, was their first state of the city as councilmen.
“This is, I am finding out very quickly, a phenomenal group,” Emery said, adding that the new council has been “very busy.”
Emery said this is “an exciting time” for the city.
Emery played a video highlighting some key statistics and accomplishments of 2023 then invited council members to the stage.
As part of the discussion, Emery asked each of the council members to tell the audience a bit about themselves.
Emery started with Council President Donald Boerger
“I love this community,” Boerger said. “I love what I do. My greatest honor, truly, is being able to speak to all my constituents, even off elections.”
Emery said Boerger “has really taken on some things early on here in his time here as president.”
He asked Boerger what his priorities are.
“As a community, we all know it is going to grow. My heartburn is that I don’t want to see what we like about Marysville lost,” Boerger said.
He said he wants to see the city “valuing what our residents like,” specifically mentioning open space, historical preservation and small businesses.
“Anybody can build a city. It’s very easy. The hardest part is building community and how is Marysville going to grow and also have a sense of community and that has always been my push,” Boerger said.
He said he would like to focus on building parks, advocating for walkability and providing unique housing stock.
Council member Henk Berbee said living and owning a business in Marysville “has been a labor of love.”
Berbee is council vice president and chair of city council’s finance committee. Emery asked him about challenges he sees for the city “in the near future.”
“You continue to see what people, the community, would like to continue and would like to add on to it,” Berbee said. “But of course, as any economics teacher will tell you, that someone has to pay for it.”
He said the city residents value paving streets as the city’s safety services.
“These are always very important aspects,” Berbee said.
He said the city is aging and it is important that Marysville makes it “affordable for people in that age group. He also said older residents often use more city services noting that 80% of EMS runs are for seniors in the community.
“That is one concern maybe that we do have,” Berbee said.
Emery asked council member J.R. Rausch what excites him most about the city.
“This place,” Rausch said, indicating Leon’s garage.
He said that growing up in Marysville there were not many food options.
“Look at it today,” He said. “Look at the number of food options.”
He also said that in years past students who could go to college did and didn’t return until they had children. He said the city continues to “improve the quality of life for our residents” and now the city is an attractive option for area young people.
Council member Mark Reams spoke about the advantages of the city owning and operating its own utilities. He said there is no business that needs to make a profit or answer to shareholders.
“We are keeping our costs as low as we can and serving the needs here in Marysville,” Reams said.
Emery added that “as frustrating as our utility rates may have been over the years, we don’t foresee any need to raise our rates even in the near future and we have no thoughts of our rates adjusting.”
“So what’s ultimately happening right now is other community rates are raising and Marysville’s rates are holding.” Emery said. “I would say in about another five to eight years, our rates are going to be as competitive as anybody out there, especially in the central Ohio region.”
Emery then introduced the three new council members. He said that as a new council member there is a lot to learn and, “they have absorbed it well and taken it on head on. I couldn’t compliment them anymore. I am just very impressed.”
Emery asked each of the new council members what motivated them to run for council and what they have learned or has surprised them.
“The city is growing and is going to continue to grow,” Council member Steven Wolfe said. “Finding ways to help that growth benefit everyone and grow in a way that people feel comfortable, to a good degree, on what’s happening and why that growth’s occurring and where its growing and how we structure that.”
Council member Zach Bordner said his two sons motivated him to run for council.
“The decisions we make today, impact their tomorrow,” Bordner said. “They are the reason I get up in the morning, do the things I do. They are the reason I ran for local government. I am convinced that if I make decisions that are right by them, I will be able to sleep at night.”
He said he was seated on the finance committee and he has been surprised with “how complex our budget is.”
Council member Scott Hunter said his reason was “similar” to Bordner’s. He said he has three children.
“I want to see opportunity for my children. I want to see them be able to thrive and have opportunities in their adult lives,” Hunter said.
He said he wants to see opportunity for “a high quality of life” for residents in the city.
He said he saw some of the things happening in the county several years ago and believed he could help.
“I thought that more than ever we need people in leadership who are able to look at what’s going on, make good decisions, take into account people with varying view points and talk with a sense of civility to come to sound decisions and ultimately that’s what drove me to run for office,” Hunter said.
Hunter said the power council has to shape the future has “escalated to the forefront of my mind.”
“Despite the binding nature of decisions that were made in the past — maybe they were bad decisions, maybe they were decisions that had to be made — despite the binding nature, we still have opportunity to shape maybe some of the things that have already been decided in the past, but more so, we have opportunity to shape the future by decisions we are making on new things,” Hunter said.
Emery thanked the council members for “giving the community a chance to meet each of you tonight during the state of the city.”
“Just so everybody knows, in the way our structure works in the city manager form of government, these are my seven bosses and so what they set forth legislatively, I carry forth as city manager,” Emery said.
He added, “I think there is some real strength here in city council today. There may be some interest, if you look at our city council, a little more diversity down the road may be something to think about.”