LIMA — Lima voters will have another choice for the city’s top executive position as 6th Ward Councilman Derry Glenn was able to submit paperwork to declare his candidacy for mayor before the Feb. 1 submission deadline. Additional declarations from Jamie Dixon and Jon Neeper to run for Lima’s 5th and 7th Ward council seats, respectively, ensure that voters will have choices to make for each of the Lima City Council seats up for election. Former councilman Ray Magnus has already filed to run for the 1st Ward council seat while Michael Birchfield is running in the 3rd Ward.
Pending approval of the declaration, this would be the first time Glenn has run for mayor since 2009, when he was eliminated in the May primary, garnering 11 percent of the vote against incumbent Mayor David Berger and then-Allen County Sheriff Dan Beck.
Glenn has declined to comment on his filing pending a news conference scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Dixon, 28, currently serves as a service coordinator, advocating for the elderly and disabled, while Neeper, 46, is a funeral director at Chiles-Laman Funeral and Cremation Services. Both were born and raised in Lima, deciding to run for Lima City Council to try to bring change to the city and its governing body.
“I feel if we get our neighborhoods thriving, the city will be thriving,” Dixon said. “Stronger neighborhoods make a stronger Lima.”
“Someone needed to challenge the status quo,” Neeper said. “I got married three years ago and I have a daughter, and when I see what’s going on in this city, I need to step up and throw my hat in the ring.”
Dixon said one of his first priorities would be to work to eliminate dilapidated houses and also help foster increased relationship building between the Lima Police Department and more of the 5th Ward.
“We have the station on the corner of Calumet and Kibby, but a lot of people don’t know it’s there once you get further outside that area,” he said. “Let’s get into the St. John’s, the Holmes, the Catalpa area. Let’s help that presence to not only be known on the east side of the ward, but also on the south side.”
Neeper has served on various committees, both in Lima and in the mortuary industry. He hopes to bring that experience to council to help foster economic development and growth.
“Economic growth is what we are lacking right now,” Neeper said. “The rise of crime is due to the lack of business and good jobs here, so we need to try to find a way to improve that.”
All declarations are pending certification by the Allen County Board of Elections.
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5th, 7th Ward council seats also to be contested
By Craig Kelly
ckelly@civitasmedia.com
Reach Craig Kelly at 567-242-0390 or on Twitter @Lima_CKelly.