Some people are advocating for a change inn Lima’s mayor.
Change for change sake just doesn’t make sense to me.
Looking at the record of Mayor Berger shows his due diligence in making sure Lima both prospers and retains business and industry. When BP announced they were going to close, it was the mayor and a team of local people who implemented a plan to try and save the refinery.
Tom Mullen, then publisher of The Lima News, was quoted as saying, “What we got from the state was lip service.” We were told the state would not involve itself without the approval of BP. That meant the mayor and his team in a small community were on their own against a giant global company.
What did saving the refinery mean to our community?
It not only saved the present jobs but created on-going employment in our community. It kept not only the jobs but the tax base that secured monies for our community safety services now employed. It kept spendable wages for retail purchases, supplier business with cash flow for services.
Example: $31 million in wages. $2.7 million in annual real estate and personal property taxes; $10 million in natural gas; $15 million in electricity (Ohio Power); water (City of Lima); $3 million donations to civic and community organizations from Lima Refinery and BP since 1980 to its announce closure.
That doesn’t include all the small business suppliers who profited with sales to BP.
If that doesn’t earn your vote for Mayor Berger drive by Husky Refinery and imagine nothing there.
Mike Edelbrock, former president United Steelworkers Local 624, Lima Refinery
