New look for Huber Heights city council

Huber Heights City Council will have a different look come the first of the year.

Team Huber — a quartet of city residents who ran together to unseat four incumbents — won three of the four races Tuesday, according to final, unofficial results from the boards of elections in Montgomery and Miami counties.

Glenn Otto (at-large), Richard Shaw (Ward 1) and Janell Smith (Ward 2) all were victorious against Jan Vargo, Lu Dale and Karen Kaleps, respectively.

“It’s nice for us to get the residents their voice back,” Smith said. “We’ll work together as a team and get some issues taken care of. I couldn’t be happier. I want what’s best for the people. Now, there’s a lot of work ahead of us.”

Councilman Ed Lyons defeated challenger Rick Stan in Ward 6, 48 percent to 43 percent.

“I’m humbled by their support of me in the four years I’ve been on city council, and I look forward to continuing to do positive work in Huber Heights in the future,” Lyons said.

Kaleps and Vargo have both been on city council for 25-plus years, while Dale and Lyons are wrapping up their first term in their respective wards.

Otto, Shaw, Smith and Stan teamed up to challenge the four incumbents on the platform that they will work together. That’s something they said current leadership is not doing.

“This was a community effort,” Shaw said. “We were victorious today. Now it’s time to start rebuilding our city and working for our community.”

City Council and Mayor Tom McMasters have repeatedly been at odds since McMasters took office in January 2014.

Tuesday’s results are a culmination of what has been a contentious election season in Huber Heights.

Shaw filed an official complaint against Dale, alleging unethical and illegal conduct related to campaign material when she used a city business card to solicit votes.

A complaint was filed by a Huber Heights resident against Otto and Shaw, claiming they were using the city logo on their campaign websites without permission.

That same resident filed another complaint against Otto, alleging Otto failed to report certain expenditures on his campaign finance reports.

And most recently, a group sent out a mailer aimed primarily at Otto, highlighting his past financial struggles and questioning if he can be trusted as a city leader.

“I’m ready to get to work,” Otto said. “I don’t know any other way to go at it.”

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