I’ve been attending City Council meetings for approximately three years now. I first began attending because I was running for the Republican State Central Committee District 1 and needed to get into meetings to see how they were run. Simultaneously I began attending the local Hancock County Central Committee meetings as well. Finding out my precinct was vacant was great news! It was an opportunity to get involved and learn the flow and the process of these meetings through ‘Roberts Rules of Order’. In the meantime, I made sure to keep up on national and global news. News that I’ve followed my lifetime.
I’ll be totally honest – when I started attending City Council meetings, no one else attended meetings aside from those in Council seats. Occasionally someone would attend to speak to our Councilman, which I found interesting, a Boy Scout Troop would fill a row in council chambers to receive a badge or a few would attend for a Proclamation or “Awareness” day and take pictures with the mayor. I thought it was rather fun. I’m not a stranger to Agenda’s so learning to follow along was quite easy. I like being involved and learning how to understand the process of these meetings and what was happening in our community.
It was during this time that the mayor was putting together a Strategic Planning Committee with 40 members of the community to give input and help get input to lay out a 10-year plan for Findlay’s future. I thought it was the perfect time to get involved in helping our community, so I submitted an application. I was thrilled to learn that ‘I made the team’. An excitement that didn’t last very long due to covid. Our very first meeting was at the student center at the University of Findlay, a time when masking had become a thing. I’ll leave the details to that meeting for a later blog post. I walked into the conference room to see a variety of people from business owners to college students – it was a great mix of people from our community. The roundtable discussions that came with the questions and answers part of the meeting was intriguing. Such a diverse group with such diverse thoughts. I loved being involved in these conversations. The Strategic Planning Committee then brainstormed a 10-month plan to collect input and surveys from the community. I will save the Strategic Planning Committee journey for a later time as well since I’m focused on the story of “The Regulars” at City Council.
I took particular notice of the issues that came up in our community and how the public was handled by our local government. I was highly disappointed to see the way Mayor Christina Muryn addressed the concerned residents of the City of Findlay when they didn’t agree. For example, I didn’t care for the way the mayor practically threatened those that filled the Council Chambers when they had an open meeting to discuss annexation agreements. Residents had a lot of concerns and even more questions. At one point the frustration on Mayor Muryns face was undeniable. It was at this time that she crossed her arms and said “I don’t want to have to get attorney’s involved. I mean, you DO have an annexation agreement with the city” in an almost threatening tone. How dare she talk like this to her constituents?
Then there was the Farm Animal Ordinance they were trying to enforce. That issue filled City Council chambers as well. The people were not happy that the city was trying to push unlawful ordinances of what animals and how many we could have on our property. How dare they?
The city then tried to buy land in West Park for a Habitat for Humanity development that the West Park residents did not want. The West Park community showed up in numbers and made sure to voice their concerns during the oral communications portions of City Council meetings. They stopped it – good for them.
There were far more issues that caused a ruckus among the residents of Findlay, like the 50% water increase, the McPherson neighborhood fight against an apartment building, the grant dollars spent on the YMCA for demolition, the downtown $40 million park and much more. What I noticed is that as the issues arose, more and more people attended City Council meetings. It was nice to see regular faces of those that wanted to keep the mayor and council members accountable. We all slowly began participating through both written and oral communications on issues facing our community. Issues that still plague us today. Issues that are rarely addressed by the mayor nor City Council.
Remember that fight West Park put up about the Habitat for Humanity development in their neighborhood that I mentioned? Kim Meador was instrumental in that battle as well as bringing attention to their neighborhood park and bringing attention to their sewer problem. Kim Meador attends City Council meetings regularly and she is now running for City Council Ward 5. Kim knows what is going on in this city. She is keenly aware how the city is doing business.
When the city started publicly announcing that they were increasing the water bills and that became a debate, Danny DeLong did his own research and publicly spoke about the data they were using to push the increase. He challenged the city in saying their data was wrong and he submitted the actual data. Danny and his wife have attended City Council meetings regularly for the past couple years and he is now running for City Council Ward 7. Danny knows how the city is conducting its business.
So many people have stepped up to speak about the ridiculously priced $40 MILLION park, including Patty Klein. Not only has she addressed this issue at City Council, but she also created a new form to be adopted that would make our councilman respond to the oral communications after the meeting. It would connect the person with concerns to their councilman for further action. Patty also has social media pages that directly point to the issues in our community and our state. She is running City Council Ward 3. Patty knows exactly what is happening in City Council chambers as they conduct the city’ business.
Randy Otermat is another one I see on the regular. Randy ran for City Council two years ago and since has attended regularly. Randy was also elected to the Hancock County Central Committee last year. He’s aware of these issues in our community.
Then there’s me. I ran for the Republican State Central Committee District 1, sat on the Strategic Planning Committee, ran for mayor of the City of Findlay, I’m elected to the Hancock County Central Committee of which I sit on the Nominating Committee and the Auditing Committee, and I attend City Council meetings regularly. Those that I do not attend in person, I listen to on Findlay’s Youtube Channel. Not only do I attend, but I also write about and post about the city’s business. I have an idea of what’s happening in our city.
So here we are, a handful of people that have taken time to get involved with local government. Faces so regularly seen that the current Councilman refer to us as “The Regulars”. Well, these “Regulars” have all decided we’ve seen enough and that it’s time for action. We are all running for City Council to be the change we want to see.
If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
Haydee