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 David J. Berger,
Mayor
(419) 228-5462
mayor@cityhall.lima.oh.us The
Office of Mayor
The City of Lima is
a charter municipality (1932) with a strong mayor form of government.
The Mayor is the City's chief executive officer responsible for nearly
450 employees and an annual budget in excess of $70 million. The Mayor
is elected each four years in a non-partisan election.
David
J. Berger
Biographical
Information
Deep Buckeye Roots
Dave,
a native of
Mansfield
,
Ohio
, moved to
Lima
in 1977 to become the Executive Director of Rehab Project. The non-profit
community development agency renovated several hundred houses, and achieved
national prominence for training programs for male and female prisoners who
renovated single-family homes. He
worked in that position until August 31, 1989 when he resigned to campaign in
the City of
Lima
’s General Election for the position of Mayor.
A Solid Record of Achievement: 1989 – Present
The
Berger Administration has a highly successful track record of creating positive
community change.
Sixth Term, 2010 – Present
Dave
was re-elected in the November 3, 2009 general election to an unprecedented 6th
four year term as
Lima
’s Mayor.
-
Having secured nearly $20 million in federal
stimulus money for a dozen projects, the City is now executing those projects.
The largest—the
Vine Street
underpass—will be under construction in the spring of 2010.
-
Dave’s efforts with the State of
Indiana
in mid 2009 helped facilitate a decision to apply for federal funding for a
high speed rail corridor from
Chicago
through
Fort Wayne
. This step helped to preserve the
opportunity for a 3rd
Ohio
corridor through
Lima
that will connect the cities of
Chicago
,
Fort Wayne
,
Lima
,
Columbus
and
Pittsburg
.
-
The City broke ground on a new reservoir--its
largest capital improvement project in its history--in September, 2009.
Construction will continue into 2011.
-
The Berger administration’s support of active
collaborations among law enforcement agencies has encouraged a new spirit of
community engagement and the successful targeting of crime and violence.
-
During a nationally and locally historic economic
contraction, the City has managed its finances in effective ways that have
maintained high quality services despite reduced resources.
Fifth Term, 2005 – 2009
Dave,
city officials and community partners are vigorously working to complete several
strategic economic development initiatives. These projects include the
following:
-
Secured federal and state resources of more than $3
million over a 4 year period, the City then developed an industrial park for
agribusiness, creating good paying jobs and leveraging millions in investments.
This project won the national award for enhancing regional economic
competitiveness from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development
Administration.
-
Awarded a $3.2 million Job Ready Site grant from the
Ohio Department of Development, the City is assembling a 14 acre site for the
establishment of a research and development center focused on the use of
synthetic gas. This project is
leading to exciting job opportunities in nanotechnology, alternative fuels, and
advanced materials.
-
In partnership with American Trim and Rhodes State
College, the Berger administration worked to qualify
Lima
for its first Ohio Third Frontier grants, thus moving the community into the
ranks of those directly involved in expanding high-tech manufacturing. This
initial success in 2006 has now led to 3 other Third Frontier awards totaling
nearly $10 million and leveraging an additional $15 million in R&D
investments. These projects are
focused on commercializing technology that has been in laboratories and is now
able to create jobs and profitable manufacturing enterprises.
-
Worked with Global Energy to move their gasification
project from concept to reality. The
$1 billion project is the only fully permitted project in the nation with a
demonstrated ability to capture and store carbon dioxide, a leading contributor
to global warming, at the start of the plant. When
operational the plant will employ 125 highly skilled personnel.
-
Organized and chaired the
Lima
Auto Task Force, working with local public officials, auto company executives,
labor and business leaders to market the
Lima
area for auto related investments. As
a result,
Lima
has been commended by the Center for Automotive Research for having the best
proactive community efforts.
-
Orchestrated the formation of the Lima Regional IT
Alliance
, bringing together data systems professionals for peer coaching, technical
seminars and information technology planning for the
Lima
community.
-
Continued to work with constrained resources during
difficult financial times. Greater
productivity made possible by investments in data systems and a focus on
priority services allowed the city to become a lean and responsive organization,
reducing its workforce from more than 530 to less than 400 personnel.
-
Partnered with both St. Rita’s
Medical
Center
and with
Lima
Memorial
Hospital
in their expansion projects, creating hundreds of jobs and investments
approaching $175 million.
Fourth Term, 2001
- 2005
-
Active partnering
with the Lima City Schools for the replacement and renovation of all the
district’s school facilities, a $110 million investment into Lima community by
the State of Ohio.
-
The City’s direct involvement led to the
relocation of the
Lima
Senior High School
to a primary entrance corridor for the community, thus spectacularly showcasing
the new facilities.
-
Implemented the second phase of the Ottawa River
Bikepath project, which now traverses more than 6 miles of the community
-
Continued its work developing the
Liberty
Commons
Industrial Park
..
-
Appointed by Ohio Governor Bob Taft to serve on the
All-Ohio Save Defense Jobs Task Force. In
this capacity and through Task Force L.I.M.A., Dave and a broad community
coalition worked to save and expand military production at the
Joint
Systems
Manufacturing
Center
, which has now expanded from employing 400 to more than 1100.
Third Term, 1997 - 2001
-
Economic development, downtown revitalization,
neighborhood renewal, and ongoing support of community policing and Study
Circles dialogues continued to be priorities for the Berger Administration.
-
During 1997-2000, more than 25 projects involving
more than $50 million in investments occurred in the revitalization of
Lima
's downtown, including the development of a new $14 million, 85,000 sq.ft. YMCA
in the downtown.
-
Served with 16 other Ohio Mayors on Ohio Governor
Bob Taft’s Urban Revitalization Task Force, whose recommendations laid the
foundation for the state’s Clean Ohio programs which have provided hundreds of
thousands of dollars for
Lima
projects.
-
Prevented the closure and destruction of the
Lima
refinery by British Petroleum. In
July, 1998, his efforts led to the sale of the refinery from BP to Clark Oil and
thereby saved hundreds of local jobs and a very large industrial base.
The
Lima Refinery sale was showcased in the nationally broadcast PBS documentary Lost
In
Middle America
: And What Happened Next. The
sale was also prominently featured in the recently published book entitled Spiral
Up, and Other Management Secrets Behind Wildly Successful Initiatives by
Jane C. Linder.
(It
should be noted that the
Lima
Refinery is now owned by Husky Energy, which has announced plans to invest well
in excess of $2 billion to upgrade the facility to process sour crude.)
Second Term, 1993 - 1997
-
Expanded a city-wide strategic planning process
-
Positioned the Police Department to implement
Community Oriented Policing
-
Continued proactive approaches to neighborhood
support, code enforcement, and housing rehabilitation
-
Began the
Ottawa River
Bikepath Project
-
Worked on economic development challenges facing the
community, (e.g., obtained federal resources to deal with defense downsizing,
created the vision for the
Liberty
Commons
Industrial Park
, and secured federal and state brownfield redevelopment funding).
First Term, 1989 - 1993
-
Successfully managed the City's financial
difficulties created by the national recession,
-
Brought the Lima Police Department to its highest
level of staffing in over 2 decades
-
Effectively challenged onerous OEPA and USEPA
environmental regulations
-
Launched a new Department of Community Development
with a focus on neighborhood and housing revitalization,
-
Created the
Central
Point
Industrial Park
.
-
Facilitated positive community dialogues on race and
diversity, entitled Study Circles.
Dave’s Awards and Recognitions
1988
The Distinguished Citizen Award by the National Association of Realtors
1990
Ohio
Humanitarian Award through the
Ohio
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission - Honored by
Ohio
's Governor Richard F. Celeste
1994
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award from the Catholic Diocese of
Toledo's Office of Black Catholic Ministries and the official recognition of the
State of
Ohio
and Governor George V. Voinovich for his work to improve community race
relations through
Study Circle
dialogues
1994
Ohio
Water Environment Association Water Environment Public Service Award
For leadership on local, state and regional water quality issues.
1997
Visionary of the Year, from the
Allen
County
Visionaries
1999
Alumni Community Service Award from the
Catholic
University
of
America
.
2006
Mercy Club Award. St. Rita’s Medical Center Mercy Club
Dave
currently serves on the Energy Committee of the United States Conference of
Mayors, and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Municipal League.
Education
Catholic
University
of
America
in
Washington
,
D.C.
Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
St.
Meinrad College in
St. Meinrad
,
Indiana
.
Certification
in Community Economic Development from the Development Training Institute in
Baltimore
,
Maryland
.
Personal
Dave
and his wife, Linda, have 4 children, Karmin, Jennifer, Monica, and Michael.
Karmin and her husband, Andrew, have two children, Nina Marie and Jayden
Joseph. Karmin is a 6th
grade teacher in the
Athens
,
Ohio
area. Jennifer, a 2002 graduate of
the United States Air Force Academy, achieved the rank of Captain and served as
a project engineer working on the next generation of GPS satellites at the Los
Angeles Air Force Base. Jennifer
and her husband, Brian, have relocated to
Ann Arbor
,
Michigan
, where she is enrolled at the
University
of
Michigan
’s
Ross
Business
School
pursuing an MBA. Monica, a 2004
graduate of
Ohio
University
, is teaching kindergarten grade at the Shawnee Elmwood elementary school.
And Michael recently graduated from the
University
of
Cincinnati
with 2 bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and finance.
January,
2010
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