Eikenbary finishes first year in new role

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Monday night’s meeting of Van Wert Council was the final one of 2024 and it wrapped up year one for Council President Thad Eikenbary.

Eikenbary successfully ran for the seat in the November, 2023 election and replaced former Council President Jerry Mazur, who chose not to seek re-election. A longtime resident who grew up in Van Wert, Eikenbary said he ran as a way to give back and to become more involved with the city.

He called his first year as council president a great learning experience.

“Not just for me but we have enough new faces around the table (Councilwoman At-Large Jana Ringwald, former Second Ward Councilman Jordan Dettrow, and his replacement, Greg Roberts) that it was a good learning experience for them as well,” he said. “I think council has accomplished some really good things for the city this year. I liked how we came together on some tough issues, including the dispensary question and I also appreciated how much the public got involved in things like that – the communication was good and that’s obviously helpful and helps the council do their job.”

“I think we also did a good job of coming together when we got thrown a curveball when we had to appoint a new person and it was just recently (Roberts),” he continued. “I think it went smoothly, although having just two people throw their hat in the ring probably made it a little easier. I think it was a good year and I’m looking forward to next year.”

Prior to taking over as council president, Eikenbary had not sought public office but he noted that his work in his professional career (Central Insurance, currently Vice-President of Commercial Lending at First Federal of Van Wert) helped prepare him for the role, along with serving on close to 10 different boards. 

“My involvement with other boards over the years helped quite a bit, so I think generally my learning curve was shorter than somebody that was just getting into council at this level and didn’t have that kind of experience,” he said.

As far as 2025, Eikenbary said it’s important for council to decide what to prioritize and what not to spend a lot of time on. He specifically cited a city-owned pool and said he expects that issue to be revisited next year.

“We keep hearing about this group out in the community that’s very interested – I haven’t heard a lot from that group or even who’s on it, but if they’re out there I certainly want to hear from them to see if we should make it a priority,” Eikenbary stated. “Obviously we think we know what our priorities should be but our priorities need to be with the public ones and the only way we’re going to know that is if they tell us.”

Eikenbary and Van Wert City Council will meet again January 13, 2025.