ASHLAND – Ashland Main Street Executive Director and City Councilman Sandra Tunnell has thrown her hat in the ring in the Ashland mayoral race.
Tunnell filed her petition Friday, joining fellow councilman Matt Miller in the race. The deadline to file petitions for the May election is Feb. 1.
“I have worked hard for the last eight years to help better the city of Ashland, and I feel that I can do even more for our community in the role of mayor,” Tunnell said.
Tunnell has served as fourth ward city councilman for eight years. During her time on council, she has had the opportunity to work closely with former Mayor Glen Stewart and the city’s departments to help create a better, more efficient government that best serves the needs of the community.
“I am proud of the relationship I have with the division directors and key members of their departments. For example, I have ridden along with the police department on multiple shifts. I walked the streets with the fire department installing smoke detectors and participated in their last practice burn. I have had similar experiences with our other city departments, such as driving the snow plow and participating in the Street Department’s truck rodeo. These partnerships have given me intimate knowledge of how city departments work and how we can help improve them to better our community,” Tunnell said.
For the past six years, she has served as director of Ashland Main Street, helping to lead the revitalization of downtown. During her tenure, downtown Ashland has seen a 23 percent growth, with 92 percent of downtown storefronts filled. Tunnell has led the effort to put downtown on the National Register of Historic Places and worked to secure the $300,000 state façade grant for downtown.
“When we started Ashland Main Street in 2011, people said revitalizing our downtown couldn’t be done. Now look at us,” Tunnell said. “The downtown is a destination, full of new shops and new restaurants and businesses. I want to use my hands-on economic development success to benefit the entire city.”
Before her time on city council, Tunnell was a manager at Firstmerit Bank and Woodforest National Bank. Tunnell said she has valuable real-world fiscal experience in a variety of settings, helping to understand how budgets work.
Tunnell is a 2011 Ashland County Woman of Achievement and a 2012 Leadership Ashland alumna. In 2014 she won the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of the Chamber award. Tunnell has been the secretary of the Ashland County Women of Achievement board for four years. She has been on the United Way Commercial Division Campaign Team for seven years. She has been on the board of the Ashland Public Library for 10 years and president of the board for seven. Tunnell sits on the Schine’s Theatre board and chairs the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and was on the Ashland Bicentennial Steering Committee.
“I hear people saying something can’t be done, and I am challenged to help make that thing happen. No one will come downtown? We now have a Main Street that is busy and thriving. We can’t close downtown for a car show? We now have an annual event that brings thousands of people into the city. Less talk, more action is what Ashland needs,” Tunnell said. “What I have done for downtown I want to do for the entire city. The energy we have created along Main Street is exciting, and I know we can extend that into the city at large.”
Tunnell and her husband Chris, Ashland County Prosecutor, have one daughter, Madeline.
Former Mayor Stewart resigned effective Jan. 21. Mayor Duane Fishpaw was appointed by council in December to serve the remainder of Stewart’s term, which is set to end Dec. 31, 2017. After being appointed, Fishpaw said he would not seek election as mayor in the 2017 election. A special council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 30 to announce Fishpaw’s replacement on council.
