MOUNT VERNON – Just three weeks after former city council member Jeff Gottke resigned from his seat as 4th Ward representative, Mount Vernon native Mike Hillier was appointed to fill his spot. Hillier was sworn in at 3 p.m. Tuesday before attending his first round of committee meetings at 6 p.m.
Hillier is not a new face in council chambers, however. He served on council from 2006-2016, giving up his seat to run for the Republican ticket in the 2015 mayoral race (he could still serve on council until his term expired in 2016, but could not run for both mayor and council on the same ballot in 2015). Hillier fell to current councilman Matt Starr in the 2015 Republican primary, as Starr claimed 56 percent of the votes.
Gottke announced his resignation at council’s Oct. 22 meeting, citing an “inextricable conflict” with his new position as vice president of the Area Development Foundation. Gottke’s resignation was effective Oct. 31, as he began his duties with the ADF on Nov. 5.
When a ward-designated council seat is vacated, the central committee of the political party represented by the previous council member appoints the replacement. More specifically, the members of that central committee who populate the ward in question will vote to appoint the council member.
In this case, Gottke is a member of the Republican Party, and three members of the party’s central committee live in the 4th Ward. Those three members are Gottke, John Nixon and committee chairman Chip McConville.
McConville said that those three committee members vetted three council candidates at The Alcove on Monday night. The candidates were Hillier, Scott Pullins and Anderson Rearick. Each candidate spoke to the committee and answered questions for “about 20 minutes,” McConville said, before the 4th Ward committee members voted to appoint Hillier.
McConville cited Hillier’s prior experience on council as one of the driving factors behind the committee’s vote.
“Obviously, Mike had served on council before. He knows how to get it done. He was an outstanding vote-getter in previous council elections; I think in 2013, he ran at-large and was the top vote-getter in the city,” McConville said. “So not only does he have the experience of having served on council, he was very electable.”
Hillier said after being sworn in on Tuesday at Mount Vernon Municipal Court that he plans on being an engaged and thoughtful 4th Ward representative, and that he hopes to bring his constituents’ concerns to the forefront during discussions that will impact the city’s future.
“I live on E. Sugar Street, I live in the heart of Mount Vernon,” Hillier said. “My constituents live in the heart of Mount Vernon. 4th Ward has a lot to do with Mount Vernon. And I think that some of the work I could do on council, with some of the experience I have… we could make maybe some improvements in the 4th Ward.”
Hillier, who said he has lived on E. Sugar Street for 23 years, is in his eighth year as the store manager at Pak Mail on Coshocton Avenue. Pak Mail ships household goods across the nation, everything from fire places to literal tons of bricks.
In his previous time on council, Hillier prided himself on face-to-face engagement with his constituents. One time, he remembered, the question of whether or not to lower the speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per hour on E. High Street was presented to council. To figure out what 4th Ward residents thought about the issue, Hillier took two weekends to walk up and down E. High Street, going door-to-door to discuss the issue with his constituents.
“I thought, you know, what better to do than to go talk to the people that live on the street?” Hillier said.
He made a chart that showed the percentage of residents who wanted to stay at 35 miles per hour and those who wanted to drop to 25. Hillier still recalls the sense of responsibility that moment gave him, not only as a councilman but as an active member of the community. He said that type of face-to-face interaction also likely helped him at the polls, which McConville alluded to.
“I felt that was probably one of the most honest ways to get an honest opinion of who it really affects, and that’s what I like to do,” Hillier said. “You know, people talk about campaigning – campaigning is just part of talking to your constituents, and I like to campaign the whole time I’m there because you’re talking to the people that put you there.”
While Hillier said there were some things he “could have done better” during his previous 10 years on council, he noted that most had to do with inexperience. He said that the “learning curve probably cost me a little bit” early on.
“I don’t have that learning curve so much now, so that’s definitely an improvement,” Hillier said.
In the two years since he held a council seat, Hillier said he’s kept a close eye on council’s discussions. He watched the meetings he couldn’t attend in person online, and he’s spoken at meetings when necessary.
After being sworn in on Tuesday, Hillier gave his thoughts on several key issues council is currently grappling with, including the potential vacant property registry and vaping ordinance.
He said he would support a vacant property registry, although it would depend on “the amount of money they want to talk” and “how they want to do it.”
“I think vacant property inventory is maybe one way to get landlords to move some of these properties, rather than just let them sit,” Hillier said. “You know, it’s legal, it’s nothing new. I think it’s something we need to do.”
Hillier said he would support legislation that equates smoking and vaping in the city when it comes to the purchase of vape products. This would mean that those under the age of 18 could not buy vape products, just like they can’t buy tobacco products.
Council is also considering changes to the city’s street parking regulations, as it discussed fine structure and enforcement during Tuesday night’s meeting. Hillier frequently provided insight, as he served as a parking attendant for two years and also served on Main Street Mount Vernon’s board for several years.
Hillier said he prioritizes community service in his free time, as he volunteers for the Hot Meals program at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church and also works with the Knox County Recycling and Litter Prevention program.
“I’m very involved in my neighborhood,” Hillier said. “I’m one of those guys, you drive down the street and I raise my head and I raise my hand. That’s how I stay involved in my neighborhood.”
Hillier said he plans on running for his council seat in 2019. When it comes to his long-term council aspirations, however, he’s hesitant to forecast. After all, council seats are up for reelection every two years.
“You know, I’ll be 65 in five years. I have three grandsons, all in Cincinnati. The oldest one’s 10. He’ll be 15 in five years. I hope financially I can retire at 65. Whether I still do my part on city council then, I don’t know, but who knows what’s going to happen in five years,” Hillier said. “We do it two years at a time on city council.”
After a two-year break, though, Hillier seemed thrilled on Tuesday to rejoin council. He cracked jokes with the mayor and his peers before being sworn in, but he made it clear to all who attended that he is intensely serious about this responsibility.
“For 10 years, I was never late for a meeting and never missed a meeting. And that includes other meetings that you go to, as far as zoning or planning, those type of things. And that’s what it takes, that’s the importance of this position,” Hillier said.
“You can either be a council member who goes to two meetings a month and one meeting a month for four months in the summer and call yourself a councilperson, or you can be somebody that gets involved. And I get involved, and I think that has a lot to say about the importance of this position.”
