LIMA — Lima Mayor David Berger held a press conference Thursday at Veterans Memorial Civic Center to kick off his bid for re-election, seeking an eighth term as the city’s chief executive.
“I have stood before the voters many, many times and talked about our issues and talked about our strategies,” he said. “We’ve just been absolutely blessed to be chosen all those times.”
This year, Berger is opposed by Keith Cheney, a Lima businessman and chairman of the Allen County Republican Party, and Derry Glenn, 6th Ward councilman.
Berger pointed to a vacation with his wife to attend their son’s wedding last summer as the time when he made his decision to seek re-election.
“We really had some time to talk about it and decided at that time that running again was an important thing to do because of everything that is now going on,” he said. “There’s a responsibility that I have to not walk away at a time when we have so many critical projects that are coming out of the ground this year, next year and the following year.”
Evidence of one project could be seen through the large windows of the Civic Center lobby as crews worked to tear down buildings in the southeast quadrant of Town Square to make room for Rhodes State College’s new $20 million Center for Health Science Education and Innovation.
During the press conference, Berger introduced the five co-chairs of his campaign. The group included representation from the education, workforce development and political spheres of Lima and Allen County: Rachel Richardson, the career services manager at Ohio State University-Lima; Kelly Kirk, former area liaison for former Rep. Michael Oxley; Eugene Jackson, a retired supervisor at Ford Motor Co. Lima Engine Plant; Lima Board of Education member Maralee Sullivan; and Bob Seggerson, a former Lima Central Catholic boys basketball coach and a freelance sports columnist with The Lima News.
“I have always been, and remain, a loyal supporter of Dave Berger,” Seggerson said. “I trust his judgment. I have faith in his ability to lead our community through the many challenges that face a city of our size, especially in trying times.”
Each co-chair pointed to Berger’s experience and a belief in his steady leadership during trying times for Lima in the past, pointing to such events as the proposed closure of Joint Systems Manufacturing Center by the Department of Defense or the 1996 announcement by BP to close and demolish the Lima refinery.
“Dave did was a good leader should do,” Kirk said. “He brought everyone together to work for Lima, encouraged the growth of ideas and kept us all on task.”
The May primary will select the top two mayoral candidates, with the final vote for mayor coming in the November general election.
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