With the upcoming election just around the corner, and with two people running for the office of Mayor of Dresden, we thought it would be good to talk to the candidates so that we could pass on the information to you. And in the interest of being a neutral party the following is not influenced by our personal opinions in any way.
Mayor Dave Mathew has been the Mayor of Dresden for 8 years and served on the village council prior to being elected Mayor. Dave has lived in Dresden all of his life and was raised in the house that he lives in, his parents purchased the house in 1946. As a 1975 Tri-Valley graduate Mayor Mathew went on to Ohio State. He is a member of Friends of the Dresden Parks, and the past president of the Dresden J.C.’s. Dave was the charter commander for the Sons of the American Legion when it formed and still serves as Chaplain. He is a 40-year member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, Millwrights, and Piledrivers and served as local union president for 8 years. Dave is also member of the Dresden Community Association and the trustee for the Dresden United Methodist church.
If re-elected Mayor Mathew would like to continue to improve Dresden and help Dresden recover from the job losses and declining economy it has suffered in the past. Currently there are more taxpayers working in the village than there have been for over 15 years by estimate. Dave would also like to continue to improve village finances, this is the first year in recent history that the village should not have to borrow money and repay it to the BPA. The Mayor wants to continue pursuing safety for local workers and equipment upgrades as well as paving grants to help improve the local roadways, and keep improving the village audits.
As Mayor of Dresden a few of Dave Mathew’s accomplishments are as follows. Organized the purchase of the Swim Center, and the Bonnie Longaberger Senior Center then through changing business practices and donations made both entities operate without using tax dollars. Worked with Chief Wolford and village staff to transform the Dresden Fire Department into a paid part-time department with 24-hour coverage and helped the village get over 3.5 million dollars in various grants. Continues to work with the police department to chase the drugs and crime off of the streets of our village. Has worked along side other members of the Friends of the Dresden Parks Inc. to clean up, beautify, and improve the village parks, erected new shelters in parks, made repairs, cleaned and added power at Dresden River Park. Continued paving efforts with the ongoing paving that will take place in 2019 and 2020. For a full list of accomplishments please contact the Mayor’s office.
“I just want to continue to improve living in Dresden” – stated Mayor Dave Mathew.
Greg Morrison was raised in Dresden and has lived here all of his life. He graduated from Tri-Valley in 1980 and operated a pizza shop called “Pizza Parlor” which opened in 1986. Greg has several rental properties in Dresden as well as owning Dresden Furniture and Carpet for twenty years along with the Dresden Tavern which opened in 2017. Greg has never held a public office but did run for mayor a while ago.
If elected Mr. Morrison wants to repair the relationship between Dresden Village and Jefferson Township. He would also like to give kids in Dresden under the age of 18 between 1 – 10 days of free visits to the pool , and wants to start a fundraising committee for the pool to use advertising through signs on the pool fence to help purchase new furniture and other items. Greg wants to provide body cameras for the local police department and consolidate the senior center into the current municipal building. He also wants to bring the income tax processing back to Dresden and out of Cleveland, and would like to have the village hire a custodian to take care of the grounds at the cemetary. Mr. Morrison says he will not ask for a tax increase until he can prove that it is necessary, and wants the street department to put more emphasis on the streets.
“I want to get some changes done up in here” – stated candidate Morrison.