MOUNT VERNON — Former Mount Vernon 4th Ward City Council candidate Mike Miller is running again after filing a petition for the vacant seat Tuesday.
The decision was easy for Miller, he said, after losing by a narrow margin as a write-in candidate in 2021 to incumbent Mike Hillier, who announced in January he would not seek re-election.
“I have been on city council for approximately 14 years, and it is time to let someone else have the seat. I will be retirement age in 2024 and plan to retire from my workplace PakMail and the city at the end of December 2023,” Hillier said in the announcement.
“Our grandsons live in Cincinnati, and I plan on attending more of their sporting events and spending more time with my family. My wife, Terri, and I are ready to start the next phase of our lives.”
Hillier first joined city council in 2006, representing Mount Vernon as an at-large Republican. He left council in 2015 to run for the Mount Vernon mayoral position, losing in the primary to current mayor Matt Starr.
Hillier rejoined council in 2018 after the Knox County Republican Central Committee appointed him to fill the Fourth Ward term upon the vacancy left by Jeff Gottke. Hillier won re-election to the Fourth Ward seat in 2019 and again in 2021.
Miller said with his background and long work history at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, he would be a great fit for Mount Vernon.
Miller was chief of the Division of Wildlife and chief of the Division of Watercraft, dealing with sewer water, boat ramps, buildings, shooting ranges and campgrounds.
“I’ve done a lot of different things with decision-making for maintenance and renovations,” he said.
Miller said he is looking forward to getting out and doing some campaigning between now and the primary.
“Even if I’m the only person on the ballot, I’m planning on going out, going door-to-door and talking to people,” he said.
What will be different for Miller this election cycle?
First and foremost, his name will be on the ballot this time around. Miller believes this will make it easier for people to remember who to vote for.
“I think from talking to people, I must have had a pretty good message to get that many people to vote for me,” Miller said.
“But my biggest things are the basics (like) infrastructure. Making sure the water treatment, sewage treatment plants, roads and bridges (…), that our infrastructure is in good shape. Making sure that our roads are taken care of, and particularly our water and sewer treatment plants.”
Miller said he thinks the city needs to pay attention to maintenance items, though he doesn’t see any particular or glaring things right now.
“I know they built a new sewage treatment plant about 20 years ago, roughly, and I know there’s some maintenance that needs to be done there and at the wastewater treatment facility,” he said. “I would like to see that those are made a priority to fix.”
