ONTARIO ─ Larry Collins, former Ontario mayor and council president, is back at the city’s municipal building.
Miller was sworn in Wednesday night as the at-large councilman before the city council meeting. The position was left open by Eddie Gallo, who just became the city council president this year. The Republican Central Committee appointed Collins to fill Gallo’s unexpired term until the end of December.
Collins said he was glad to help out but would not run for another term. His physical condition has changed. He just had open-heart surgery and is still rebounding from it.
At the beginning of 2018, he retired as council president at age 77. He served in the position for two terms before the retirement. Prior to that, he was Ontario mayor for four years.
“I miss it. I enjoy working with people and help them run city government,” Collins said of his return.
His goal is to keep the city on the straight and narrow. He said he will help council focus on important issues and spending time and money to help benefit the people of Ontario.
“We’re not playing a game. We’re doing business for the citizens,” he said.
Collins said he never thought he would be involved in politics. He was a pastor for 43 years. At the end of his pastoral career, he ran for mayor and was elected in 2010.
When he took office as mayor, General Motors had just announced it was closing the plant. Collins said the city’s income loss was so significant it had to cut $3.2 million out of the budget.
But before he left the mayor’s office four years later, Ontario had brought in businesses such as Fed-Ex, Avita, and the Area Agency on Aging, which created local job opportunities.
Ontario announced a redevelopment plan at the former GM site in mid-November. The city sold six acres of land and the former press prep building to Industrial Commercial Properties (ICP), which has secured a lease with Charter Next Generation. CNG planned to start operating on-site in early spring.
Collins said CNG has been a very successful company and he is hoping the company will develop that entire property.
