Newly elected Mayor Mike Barhorst, center, holds the Bible for newly elected Vice Mayor Steve Wagner, left, as Sidney City Clerk Kari Egbert, right, swears Wagner in at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 4 to elect the mayor and vice mayor.
Charlotte Caldwell | Sidney Daily News
Councilmember Mike Barhorst, left, is sworn into a new term on City Council by Sidney City Clerk Kari Egbert, right. His grandchildren, left to right, Michael Faber, Annabelle Faber, Oliver Faber, and Joseph Barhorst hold the Bible. The swearing-in was held at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 4 to elect the mayor and vice mayor.
Charlotte Caldwell | Sidney Daily News
Incoming Councilmember Cory Huelskamp, left, is sworn into a term on City Council by Sidney City Clerk Kari Egbert, right, as Huelskamp’s wife, Maribel, center, holds the Bible. The swearing-in was held at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 4 to elect the mayor and vice mayor.
Charlotte Caldwell | Sidney Daily News
Councilmember Jenny VanMatre, left, is sworn into a new term on City Council by Sidney City Clerk Kari Egbert, right, as VanMatre’s daughter, Carolyn Watson, center, holds the Bible. The swearing-in was held at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 4 to elect the mayor and vice mayor.
Charlotte Caldwell | Sidney Daily News
Councilmember Mike Barhorst, left, is sworn in as mayor by Sidney City Clerk Kari Egbert, right, as his wife, Jenny, center, holds the Bible at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 4 to elect the mayor and vice mayor.
Charlotte Caldwell | Sidney Daily News
By Charlotte Caldwell
[email protected]
SIDNEY — Councilmember Mike Barhorst was elected Sidney’s mayor and current Vice Mayor Steve Wagner was reelected to the vice mayor position at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 4.
For both elections, the council decided to vote by non-partisan paper ballot for the city clerk and law director to tally, with Councilmember Jenny VanMatre voting no both times to a paper ballot.
Wagner nominated Barhorst for mayor and VanMatre nominated current Mayor Mardie Milligan. The paper ballots read that Councilmember Scott Roddy, Barhorst, Wagner and incoming Councilmember Cory Huelskamp voted for Barhorst, and VanMatre, Milligan and Councilmember Joe Moniaci voted for Milligan.
Milligan nominated Roddy for vice mayor and Huelskamp nominated Wagner. The paper ballots read that Wagner, Huelskamp, Moniaci and Barhorst voted for Wagner, and Roddy, VanMatre and Milligan voted for Roddy.
Barhorst was also sworn into a new term on City Council as he was the top vote-getter for the three open council seats during the November General Election. VanMatre placed second and Huelskamp placed third, and both were also sworn in.
With this election, Barhorst became one of eight Sidney mayors to serve in the office twice and the only Sidney mayor to serve as mayor three times.
He also holds the title of Sidney’s longest-serving mayor. Barhorst served as a member of council from 1977 to 1989 with three terms as vice mayor and one term as mayor during that time. In 2007, he was reelected to council and served as mayor until 2021 with Milligan as vice mayor. In 2021, Milligan was elected mayor and Wagner was elected vice mayor.
Barhorst has also served on a number of local boards, several state-wide organizations, and is currently employed as a field representative of the Ohio Municipal League (OML) promoting best practices in municipal government, along with 40 years as an educator in Sidney’s Catholic schools.
The next City Council meeting will be held on Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
