David Brown
No response
Lisa M. Duvall
Credit: STEPHEN LEWIS
Credit: STEPHEN LEWIS
Education: Westerville North High School, Bowling Green State University
Current Employment: EDI coordinator at Edict Systems Inc.
Community Involvement: Board of Community Relations (member), city of Kettering; Parks Advisory Council (member), city of Kettering; Kettering Leadership Academy (graduate), city of Kettering; Kettering-Centerville Kiwanis (member); Jr. Gem City Roller Derby (League Liaison), Huber Heights
Why are you seeking elected office? As a 15-year resident of Kettering, I have grown to love our city while at the same time watched our district be underrepresented on city council. My goal in running for office is to serve as a voice and true representative for my neighbors in District 1 and all citizens of Kettering on city council.
Why should voters elect you? I am a single parent who has raised three children in Kettering. Like so many residents of Kettering, I know what it means to struggle financially. When it comes to paying our bills, raising our children and living in a safe neighborhood, we need someone with this type of real-world experience on the city council that can represent all members of our community. Whether or not voters find themselves making those types of hard decisions, I feel my experiences can assist everyone in our community. Regardless of our political beliefs, I am ready to work together across all party lines to make Kettering an even better place to live.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? Maintaining and improving our city infrastructure; attracting both large and small new businesses to not only come to Kettering but stay and grow with our city; helping to provide improved access to mental health services and public transportation.
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? Prioritize road and sidewalk maintenance in neglected neighborhoods. Reviewing mixed use proposals for Kettering Business Park and Kettering Research Park to determine if the proposals meet the needs of mid to low income citizens and will help bring in new tech, aerospace or medical businesses. Put in place programs to improve access to mental health resources through city departments, partnerships with regional transportation resources, as well as mental health services focused on our first responders. Establish a Senior Advisory Board to advise the city on how it can more effectively meet the needs of our older citizens through zoning, planning and transportation.
Anything else? My priorities are all based on the belief that we need to address the issues of poverty in Kettering. Poverty cannot be addressed without looking at issues like housing, our economy and the mental health of our citizens. I want to work to improve the underlying issues of poverty and help our whole city grow and thrive.
Darrell Meshew
Education: Bachelor’s of science, Wright State University
Current Employment: Kettering City Schools and Centerville City Schools, I am semi-retired
Community Involvement: Volunteering and attending the Dayton Vineyard Church, U.S. Green Building Council LEED Green Associate
Why are you seeking elected office? I want to represent all the people in Kettering District 1, including the under-served of our city; the working people, the elderly, the single parents and others who are often left behind in the community’s political system. Many folks are not aware that nearly one half of Kettering school children are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program. This means that they are below or close to the federal poverty level. Many working people lost jobs and small businesses closed during the pandemic and we need to be aware of this and seek ways to help them. Kettering is a great city, it is well run, we have great parks and good services, but we must not continue to do business as usual. We must embrace new technologies and find ways to bring in high tech jobs. We need to explore new services for residents. We have an unprecedented opportunity here in Kettering. We have a fiber optic backbone, infrastructure money coming in, a new normal that allows us to change some of our old outdated thinking, and the opportunity to elect new city leaders that can break from the old “business as usual mindset.” As an educator I understand that many of the children in our schools will be left behind unless we take action to connect them to good internet service. We simply can’t continue with the current commercial internet providers. The service is simply too expensive for many families that are hard pressed to pay for housing and food. We simply can’t allow our disadvantaged kids to fall farther behind. I will fight to pursue a working public utility internet on day one if elected.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? My wide range of experience, and my passion for helping those in the community that are left behind in our economy allows me to recognize problem areas in the city. My experience as a “problem solver” in developing and managing large, system wide energy projects for public schools prepared me for this position. My experience as an educator equips me to understand the needs of our children and their families, and why they need support in our community. I am also leading the fight for internet as a public utility in Kettering. We need to take advantage of new technologies and move the city forward. I will work for the residents of Kettering to help make this an even better place to live.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? No. 1, my agenda is developing a public utility internet. We have the opportunity to make this happen now. Other towns in Ohio are setting up public utility internet. Yellow Springs is currently doing this, and we can pursue it as well. Kettering can do this with federal grants as they become available, and this can be a revenue positive center for the city, while offering families that qualify much lower costs for their service than the commercial providers. At the same time we will be able to provide better service. Senior citizens and others on fixed incomes could also benefit from lower costs. Our students desperately need good internet service in today’s world, and students who lack it will fall behind. Maintaining low taxes is also a key for our community. Too many families are hurting now and municipal taxes tend to be regressive, hurting lower income families when they are raised. I want to maintain our current tax rate and seek grants for our larger projects. I am also a supporter of our parks and green spaces. We need to continue to maintain and improve our park system. If we want to bring in high tech business we need public amenities like parks, hiking and bike trails to attract young high tech workers. A cities great amenities will bring in businesses especially young entrepreneurs and those are the types of businesses we need for the future.
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? I hope to bring a resolution to the city council, backed by support from our residents, to implement a public utility Internet in Kettering, and I hope to see that spread to other communities as well. We will seek federal grants for internet expansion and parks improvements. We will explore new park improvements with neighborhood groups. We will maintain our current tax rate
Anything else? I am a first time candidate, and I will not do “politics as usual” if elected. I believe we need to make government work for people. If we do that, we will regain trust in our system. As I told my high school government students 35 years ago, “We have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Now let’s make it happen. Please come out and vote!