ASHLAND – Big changes are coming for Ashland with new mayor Matt Miller set to take office Jan. 1.
Miller is wrapping up loose ends at the Ohio Department of Transportation, where he will work through Friday, Dec. 29. He plans to offer his resignation from his seat on city council effective 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31. At midnight Jan. 1, he will become mayor.
Along will newly-elected council members Al Farnam and Dennis Miller, Matt Miller will have a ceremonial swearing in event at 6 p.m. Jan. 2 at Ashland High School, either in Archer Auditorium or the Little Theater. Returning council member Bob Valentine, who was reelected in November, will not take part.
Miller said he extended an invitation to Valentine to take part in the ceremony. But Valentine said he declined the offer because he had previously made plans to be sworn in by city law director Richard Wolfe Dec. 29.
“I’ve never done it that way,” Valentine said of the ceremony Miller has planned. “I’ve been on council 12 years and it’s never been done that way.”
Though the ceremony seems to be leaving the council divided, Miller said his intent is for the event to be a show of unity. Representatives from University Hospitals, Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce and Ashland County will speak briefly, and a men’s choir from the substance abuse recovery program Teen Challenge in Youngstown will perform, along with local musicians.
“This really is an exciting time for the community because all the people in those key leadership roles, whether it’s Barbie (Lange) at the Chamber, whether it’s Jim Cutright at the (Ashland County Community) Foundation, whether it’s Carlos Campo at Ashland University, the people that are in positions of influence in these major institutions in our community are all of the same mindset that we need to be working together to advance our community,” Miller said.
Miller emphasized that he invites members of the public to attend the ceremony, which he expects will be between 45 minutes to an hour.
“I think there was a lot of interest in our city election this year, both for the mayor and for the council,” Miller said. “People have talked to me and to the other new council members about how excited they are about what the future might hold for our community. Many people got involved in the process this time, helping with campaigns or attending the debates, that had never done so before. Now it’s only natural that they have the opportunity to attend the swearing in.”
The first council meeting of the year will follow the ceremony at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the municipal building. Miller said he anticipates the council will choose a new president and then determine their process for filling the council seat vacated by Miller.
The at-large seat is open to any city resident, and Miller said he expects many community members will express interest in appointment to the seat.
Once he takes office, Miller has several priorities on his agenda.
The first, he said, is to follow through on his promise of transparency. In his campaign, Miller repeatedly made pledges to “open the doors of city hall and let the light shine in” and to “share city business with city residents.”
“When it comes to the finances in particular, whether the picture is good, bad or otherwise, we need to be open with the public about what financial situations we are facing now and will be facing in the future,” Miller said. “That’s one of the reasons why we will be having open discussions about the finances of the golf course. I suspect we will continue to have discussions about WARCOG and the cost of WARCOG and our 911 dispatching of services. Those are two examples of what we’ll be talking about right away.”
Establishing a new budget will be among the first tasks for the new council, Miller said. His goal is for the public to have access to the same information the mayor and council have as the city makes decisions about the budget.
Ashland residents can expect to see more open discussions happening in public meetings, Miller said, noting he is working on plans to have the meetings televised.
In addition to increased transparency, Miller said residents can expect to see the city moving quickly to enlist the help of professional community planners in developing a plan to improve several areas of the city.
Miller said he wants the plan to tackle three main areas.
The first is downtown, particularly South Street and other streets that run parallel to Main Street. Miller sees potential for boutiques and restaurants, possibly with outdoor patio seating among these properties.
The second area is what he calls the “Pump House Corridor,” starting at Cottage Street where the old middle school was and extending down Fourth Street.
“Obviously the first priority will be to figure out a way to clean up the dilapidated and demolished properties there at the Pump House,” Miller said. “I know for both myself and the new council that is a top priority to get that mess cleaned up once and for all, but then taking it a step further and figuring how can we best develop and utilize that corridor.”
Miller acknowledged that funding the cleanup of the blighted property could be a challenge, but he indicated private citizens and public entities can work together to make it happen.
“We have had individuals in the community who have come forward and said they would like to help in the cleanup process, but there are certain parameters that would like to have met before they would be involved, so we’ll have to look to see if that’s even feasible, because of possible liens on the property,” Miller said. “That’s one reason I’m very supportive of the land bank the county is working on.”
The third area Miller wants to target is the area people see first when arriving in Ashland from Interstate 71 onto U.S. 250. This could involve the addition of boulevards or new signage, Miller said, though the details have not yet been established.
“We want to see if there’s something we can do to encourage people to explore Ashland beyond just those retailers and fast food restaurants that are just right there along the interstate,” Miller said.
In addition to those three parts of town, Miller said he would like the plan to identify the city’s next residential housing area that could be developed to meet the need for more residential housing.
“Those projects aren’t going to be happening in the first 100 days, but hopefully we’ll be making progress on putting together the plan to address them,” Miller said.
Miller said the Ashland County Community Foundation and the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce have expressed interest in assisting with the planning process.
Also early in his term, Miller wants to sit down with each city employee one-on-one and gather ideas from them about how to better serve the city’s residents by providing a better product more efficiently.
“Some of the best ideas come from men and women who are actually doing the work every day on the front lines,” Miller said.
Other priorities for Miller will be to take a more active role in economic development efforts, particularly those that have potential to create and sustain living wage jobs in the community, and to come up with maintenance plans for city buildings as well as for infrastructure.
Miller acknowledges he has promised voters a lot, but he believes the energy and teamwork is there to make things happen.
“I’ve lived here all my life, but I will tell you there is a new interest and excitement about what’s going on, and it’s palpable,” Miller said. “When you’re out and about people will come and talk to you and say, ‘I’m so excited about what’s happening’ and ‘I think good things are in the future.’ And I agree with folks.
“If we’re all working together, there’s no reason there shouldn’t be good things in the City of Ashland’s future.”
