Kettering is facing difficult budget decisions where costs are outpacing revenue (taxes), the need for redevelopment of underused property, and how to best attract businesses that support our 57,000 residents with jobs and services, including further developing Research Park and finishing the redevelopment of the Wilmington Pike corridor.
These are not small challenges. But I believe that each one is a real opportunity to shape our city. I also believe that the city government alone can’t solve these complex challenges. Sound leadership and strong fiscal management have kept us in the black and moving forward, but that doesn’t grow the tax base or find innovative ways to deliver services at lower costs – while attracting new investment in our city.
Leaders in our city must be collaborative and rely on community partners to fully capitalize on the opportunities ahead. The Barnes Building, one of Kettering’s most iconic and historical buildings, is one example. This project required creative thinking and a year of conversations and cooperation from five separate organizations to formulate a plan. A plan that includes private and public investment to put that building to use. This is the very model of collaboration that will drive big pieces of redevelopment and development in this suburb we call home.
Collaboration works. Listening to one another works.
But collaboration doesn’t come easy and it doesn’t come when leaders label differing opinions as “crazy”, “woke”, or “out of touch.” Political rhetoric right now is dividing us and preventing us from opportunities to collaborate as neighbors. Arguments labeling each other as “those people” is harmful to the process. I am committed to leading this community where everyone with an interest in the future of our city is welcome to work alongside elected and professional leadership. This is not “leadership’s” community. This is ours. Yours.
Today’s political climate, especially here locally, requires leaders to listen to the voices of everyone in the room. To be open to hearing opinions different from their own.
Kettering needs a leader committed to hearing all voices and one who is ready to collaborate in new ways to move our city forward.
We can’t do it from podiums; it has to be done on porches one conversation at a time.
I am the candidate with the tools, knowledge and experience to lead our council with this collaborative and community-minded approach. Beyond holding the endorsement of our Mayor, Peggy Lehner, I hold degrees in Parks and Recreation Management, a Masters degree in Public Administration, and I have put that education to work for our city. I have served for the past twenty years as a member of council, member of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Board, member of the Charter Review Commission, member of the Board of Community Relations, member of the Strategic Plan steering committee and I have worked professionally in local government for over twenty years.
I have done this because I believe in the power of community.
Bryan Suddith holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Dayton and he has served on Kettering Council since being elected in November 2023.
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