COLUMBUS — Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst was elected to serve a four-year term as a trustee of the Ohio Municipal League (OML) during its annual conference in downtown Columbus at the Renaissance Hotel held Oct. 25-27.
Barhorst had previously been appointed to complete the unexpired term for an elected official who was defeated in last year’s election.
At-Large Councilmember Joseph Ratermann, Fourth Ward Councilmember Steve Wagner, and City Manager Mark Cundiff also attended the three-day meeting.
In addition to networking with elected and appointed officials from Ohio’s cities and villages, attendees had the opportunity to interface with vendors and attend workshops on a variety of issues. The workshops included such diverse topics as medical marijuana, ethics, downtown redevelopment districts, animal control issues, opioid addiction, public records and road maintenance.
In addition to the election of trustees, OML members adopted as statement of legislative policy, adopted amendments to the OML By-Laws and approved the a strategic action agenda. The strategic action agenda is one of the outcomes from the Advocacy Project, undertaken on behalf of the OML by Dr. Greg Browning. Browning was director of management and budget during the administration of Governor George Voinovich.
The OML was incorporated as an Ohio non-profit corporation in 1952 by city and village officials who saw the need for a statewide association to serve the interests of Ohio municipal government. The City of Sidney has been a member of the OML for many years.
The OML is governed by a Board of Trustees, elected by the membership. The board is the policy-making body and appoints an executive director to manage the League under their general direction. The Trustees must include one mayor of a city or village, a city manager, a fiscal officer or finance director, a solicitor or law director and a member of a municipal legislative body, other than the mayor.
