City Council candidates discuss issues

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Although all eligible Van Wert voters can vote for mayor, and all eligible county voters can decide who the next Van Wert Municipal Court judge will be, only voters in the city’s Second and Fourth wards will choose their representatives on City Council

Two candidates are in the running for each of those Council seats, with only one candidate of the four with experience serving on Council.

Joi Mergy, who currently serves as an at-large representative of City Council, is now running for the Second Ward seat being vacated by Jon Tomlinson, who has chosen not to run again after serving one term in that position.

Mergy has lived in Van Wert for 32 years and has worked 15 of those years at Central Mutual Insurance Company.

She said she believes City Council priorities should be fiscal responsibility, through spending reductions, while there should be more planning for the future, a citywide cleanup and continued support of economic development and programs such as Main Street Van Wert.

Mergy is also in favor of transitioning the city to a charter form of government.

“I am a firm believer in Van Wert’s future,” she has noted. “What I can promise you is that I will continue to support policies that encourage fiscal responsibility and control spending.”

Mergy, who lives at 339 N. Washington St., is married, and she and her husband, Paul, have a 27-year-old son.

Her opponent, Ian Miller, is a political novice who is seeking election for the first time ever. A Lincolnview High School graduate, Miller said he is running as an alternative to those currently in office.

He also supports economic development and would like to see new restaurants and other businesses locate here. Miller, who lives at 816 Cable St., also said there needs to be more economic opportunities for young people in Van Wert.

“Let’s see if we can give back to our kids,” Miller has said. “They’re the future of our community.”

Two military veterans are running for the Fourth Ward City Council seat being vacated by Stan Agler, who is running for an at-large seat this time around.

Bob Hughes, 59, an ex-Marine, touts his business experience as a plus on City Council. Hughes, who has a business degree and is currently human resource manager for Haviland Drainage Products, came to Van Wert 36 years ago with Republic Buildings. He has also worked for Prudential Insurance.

Hughes said his biggest reason for running is to give back to a community that has been his home for more than three decades. Economic development is his biggest issue, noting that he feels city officials have “fumbled the ball” in the past in bringing development to Van Wert.

“We definitely need it (economic development),” Hughes said, noting that the city’s tax base has been seriously eroded over the past few years.

Hughes said he would like to see Van Wert return to the glory days seen two decades ago and feels that economic development is a key to that happening.

Like Mergy, he would also like to see city government become more fiscally responsible and feels taxes need to come down through a combination of more development and cost cutting.

Hughes is married and he and his wife, Sara, have two children, Rob and Amanda. He is a member of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Van Wert.

His opponent, Pete Weir, 51, of 408 S. Tyler St., is a retired Naval enlisted man and officer who returned to Van Wert two years ago following his retirement from the service. He also lived and went to school in the community between 1971 and 1983. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and is currently attending Rhodes State University for quality engineering.

Weir would also like to see the city cleaned up and offers a Neighborhood Pride and Awareness program that would institute cooperative fundraisers that would raise money that could then be paid to local youngsters to clean and perform simple home improvements in Van Wert’s neighborhoods. Weir said the program would make the city more attractive to companies looking for a plant site, as well as put money into the pockets of local youths who, hopefully, would spend the money here.

Weir also believes that economic development efforts need to be supported, including keeping existing companies in Van Wert. He feels additional development could provide good jobs for local young people and avoid the “brain drain” of local college grads having to leave the city to find a job suited to their education.

Weir is involved in a number of community organizations, including the American Legion, Van Wert Masonic Lodge, Toledo Scottish Rite and the Van Wert Moose lodge.

He is also married and he and his wife, Susan, have six children: three boys and three girls.