Name: Dick Church Jr.
Age: 74;
Address: 712 Evans Ave. Miamisburg;
Education: Miamisburg High School graduate; attended Miami University;
Current Employment: Retired; works full-time as mayor;
Political Experience: Miamisburg Charter Writing Commission; city council-at-large, 1988-92; mayor 1992-present
Political Party: Democrat
Description of political office: Mayor of Miamisburg;
Term of Office: 4 years;
Annual salary the job will pay: $14,515;
Family: Wife, Judi.
Name: Sarah Clark
Age: 32;
Address: 16 N. Main St., Miamisburg;
Education: Miamisburg High School graduate, 2000, bachelor's degree in political science, Trevecca Nazarene University, 2005;
Current Employment: Practice administrator, Centerville Pediatric Dentistry;
Political Experience: Two-term council member;
Political Party: Republican;
Description of political office: Mayor of Miamisburg;
Term of Office: 4 years;
Annual salary the job will pay: $14,515;
Family: Fifth generation Miamisburg resident. My father pastored Miamisburg Nazarene for 14 years, my uncle owned Davis Locksmith for more than 30 years.
The Miamisburg mayor’s seat is being contested this fall for the first time in 24 years.
Longtime incumbent Dick Church Jr. is being challenged by two-term Councilwoman Sarah Clark, the first ballot challenge he has faced since being elected to that post in 1991.
Both Church, a 74-year-old who calls himself a conservative Democrat, and Clark, a 32-year-old Republican, grew up in the city and are graduates of Miamisburg High School. The winner of the Nov. 3 election will get a four-year term to the position, which pays $14,515 annually, according to the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
Church said a strong suit of his is a six-term record as mayor is his full-time commitment to the part-time job and “the ability to work with people of both the Democrat and Republican parties.” Clark said Miamisburg needs “leadership that is capable of understanding the challenges” ahead and can “get in front of” issues.
The city is preparing to begin work in earnest on several phases of its $69 million water and sewer master plan, which is being funded by customer rate increases. It is also embarking on a $10 million plan to upgrade Riverfront Park while seeking to attract more people and businesses to its downtown district.
Meanwhile, Miamisburg entered this year with a projected budget deficit of about $600,000, but recent figures show the city is closer to breaking even, according to Miamisburg City Manager Keith Johnson. And as the city continues to work to attract more jobs, business retention is also an issue as the parent company of one of its significant employers – Evenflo – is considering moving more than 120 jobs from its Byers Road headquarters and out of the city.
The candidates differ on the top challenges the city will face in the next four years. Church lists infrastructure improvements as No. 1, followed by the completion of Riverfront Park, and continuing work at the Mound Business Park and downtown.
“Our roads need much work and city officials thought (the) 2010 passage of (the) city income tax would financially support the needed work,” according to Church, who noted that changes at the state level have shrunk the funds once targeted for those upgrades. “(But) we will find ways to improve Miamisburg’s streets.”
Clark sees the city’s budget as the top challenge in the next term, followed by drug use and related crime, and attracting new residents.
“We’ve seen two years in a row of reduced revenues and year-end deficits. This is not sustainable,” Clark stated about the budget. “And so we have to have leadership that is capable of understanding the challenges (ahead) and really equipped to make difficult decisions and get a balanced budget….We’re seeing revenue cuts (and that’s) not going to change.”
Church said he has served the city for more than four decades, working as a volunteer firefighter and a police dispatcher and helping write the city’s charter before being elected to city council in 1987.
He pointed to the redevelopment of the Mound, the development of Riverfront Park and implementation of the water and sewer master plan among the accomplishments during his tenure as mayor.
The Mound project, he said, involved working across party lines to help bring more than $1 billion to the city to clean up the site that now has more than a dozen businesses employing about 300 workers.
“Over the years we’ve been able to bring a lot of grant money into the community,” he said. “That is because of personal relationships and the ability to work with people of both the Democrat and Republican parties.
“If you play the political game, you’re not going to get anywhere,” Church added. “You’ve got to be able to work with people, and that’s what I’ve tried to do these past 24 years…being involved in the region is very important. I have those ties.”
Clark said she has initiated a neighborhood watch group in Ward 2 and is working to start three more in other parts of the city.
“This alone will not solve the problem, and there is much work to be done, but it’s a big step in the right direction,” she stated.
Her efforts on council also include spearheading the move to adopt OpenGov, which makes the city’s finances available online. Clark cited her efforts this year to expand the use of Riverfront Park with The Miami Valley Brewgrass Festival, which for the first time featured exclusive use of the venue and alcohol sales.
Her choice to move downtown demonstrates her commitment to the city and attracting more residents to that district, she stated.
“During my time on council we have been able to slowly move forward, but there is still much to be done,” according to Clark. “If we can make the downtown a walkable community…we would be a standout in the Miami Valley and in a position to attract young professionals to make their homes downtown, which in turn would increase business development.”
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