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MANSFIELD — Voters will be deciding Tuesday, November 5th who the next Mayor of Mansfield will be. Citizens will get a chance to confirm their support of Mayor Tim Theaker’s management in getting the city out of fiscal emergency, or they will take a chance on new leadership. The editorial board of Frontlines Ohio is convinced on which direction it thinks the city should take.
Tim Theaker says he “goes to work every day to make Mansfield a better place for all of the city, where people want to live, work, worship, play, and raise a family.” Accruing a rainy day fund for the city, being frugal with taxpayer dollars, and cutting government red tape is helping do just that.
(Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio)
Over Theaker’s eight years as Mayor, the city has had urban blight reduced with eight-hundred of the 2,500 vacant buildings in the city demolished. Land ownership has been enhanced with a new land bank.
During Theaker’s tenure, local economic conditions appear to be on the upswing. Unemployment in the Mansfield metropolitan area has dropped from 14.4% in January 2010 to 4.4% in August 2019. Mansfield is also very affordable, with a cost of living 7.5% lower than the national average. And the real median family income in Mansfield has skyrocketed (+12.31%) outpacing national (+8.17%) and state (+7.84%) growth incomes over the last three years.
(Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio)
The case could be made that Tim Theaker has worked more closely with the faith community than any mayor in the two-hundred year history of the City. He has partnered with the faith community, issuing formal proclamations for Pornography Awareness Week, Gambling Awareness Month, Religious Freedom Day, Global Forgiveness Day, Clergy Appreciation Month, and National Day of Prayer. If there is a faith-based cause, Theaker’s door has been open.
The case could be made that Tim Theaker has worked more closely with the faith community than any mayor in the two-hundred year history of the City.
During Theaker’s term, police and fire departments for the first time had the national motto “In GOD we trust” displayed on their vehicles. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the Safety Services levy was able to secure clergy support and win handily last spring.
With clergy and police on the same page under Theaker’s administration, Police Chief Ken Coontz last year cited crime rates dropping for the third year in a row. He also reported unprecedented church involvement in civic involvement for the last several years. With the City of Mansfield on a rebound, Frontlines Ohio believes the city will be in better hands with Tim Theaker as its next mayor.
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