During the Battle of Britain Churchill famously said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”. Churchill was referring to when the Royal Air Force, near single-handedly, defeated the much more powerful Luftwaffe.
Locally, we have a private citizen to whom it deserves to be said, “Never in our community’s history of infrastructure has the entire community owed so much to one private citizen.
In the 1980s, Mansfield’s road infrastructure inspired frequent jokes about the abundance of failing roads.
Eric Miller, decided to do something about it.
The “Pothole Haters’ tax” was the answer, and for 40 years it has served as a shining example of the good that can happen when private citizens take the lead in improving their community.
Other leading visionaries for that effort were Bill Jilek, John Eichinger, Bob Brooks, and Gill Baird.
Fast forward to June of this year for the next big thing in improving Mansfield through a safer, more reliable, and efficient water supply.
While the temporary Water Main Improvement tax may take 3-4 renewals, by the end, Mansfield will offer one of the most reliable water delivery systems in the state.
Other leaders for this effort included James Boyd, Rick Taylor, Nancy Wooden, Mike Solon and myself.
This investment will save lives and make our community far more marketable for economic development opportunities. However, these efforts are not the only groundbreaking efforts Eric has led. Among those, he also led efforts to protect the region’s native natural world.
Eric Miller should be celebrated because he has been a historic agent of change for the betterment of our community.
Daniel Hardwick
Mansfield, Ohio