Mayor’s Message, November 2023

Hello Residents,

I drove through our community and surrounding area a few weeks ago and marveled at the beauty of the autumn leaves. I told my wife; God’s artwork makes the Mona Lisa look like a cartoon. What a beautiful country and area we are privileged to live in.

Next Tuesday, Nov. 11, we have another privilege not afforded or enjoyed by many in the world, one of making our voices heard by casting our vote. I express this is a privilege and a duty of all Americans to take this responsibility seriously. Educate yourself, not through social media and talking heads but look at the issues, research the candidates, create your own value judgements and vote based on your ability to intelligently decipher what is best for you, your family, and your country.

This Saturday, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day. Please reach out to a veteran you know or happen to cross paths with and share how much you appreciate their service to our country and thank them for our freedom.

I am proud and happy to relay that our Village has had another successful year thanks to all of you who contribute to make success a reality. We’ve seen many new businesses locate here in 2023 while many existing businesses have expanded and invested in our community. We are seeing expansion in all areas, and we could not be more pleased by the energy and ingenuity of our local businesses and positive residents to help continually improve our community. It is humbling to say the least.

Our focus for the remainder of this year, in addition to ensuring our Village infrastructure is correctly maintained is expanding our water supply capacity to ensure we can accommodate future growth. This expansion project has been in progress for two years and we hope to see it completed mid-2024. We will be properly structured for the next 20 years. We have some major projects on the books that potentially will expand our Village geographically as well as provide additional quality amenities to benefit us all.

We are about to see the completion of the State Route 608 buggy lane project. This project was a result of Village and Township working together with ODOT. The safe efficient logistics of buggies and cars is so important to our area. I think the project, after all the disruption over the last two years, will be a win-win for all travelers.

When I was elected in 2012, we were hemorrhaging as a Village, our approach then was “what action is required to turn the negatives into positives?” With a smart and supportive council and administration we came up with solutions which produced the positive improvement we’ve experienced the past 10 years. I see some negative headwinds in 2024 and our commitment is, “We will address these as we have in the past and find solutions to keep our village thriving and moving forward.” We appreciate your support and loving our Village as much as we do.

I am running unopposed in November which is the first time in the past three elections. Even though I am unopposed I don’t take your support for granted and hope my actions over the next four years will earn your respect and give you the confidence I am a mayor dedicated to being fair, and striving to provide the best environment for all residents and businesses. We strive to be a village where people want to invest and live.

Be informed, be involved, exercise your right to vote, shop Middlefield and visit us on middlefieldohio.com

Ben Garlich

Mayor
Village of Middlefield