PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
FORMER MAYOR … Stryker Village Council hosted former mayor David Milliman at its council meeting Monday night. He addressed council members about his mayoral tenure fifty years ago. From left: Joey Beck (Stryker Mayor); Sandra Brown (David Milliman’s sister); Brenda Milliman (David Milliman’s wife); David Milliman (former mayor); Patsy Mealer (David Milliman’s sister); and Jim Mealer (David Milliman’s brother-in-law).
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
It was fifty years ago when David Milliman served as Stryker mayor, and on Monday night at the Village Council meeting, he addressed council members about his own experiences.
Following the opening prayer by Patsy Mealer and the Pledge of Allegiance by U.S. Army veteran Jim Mealer, the roll call was taken with council members Dave Benner, Vicki Cameron, Nick Wlasiuk, Stan Whitlock, and Dusty Potter in attendance while Sean Ingram was absent.
Also in attendance were Mayor Joey Beck, Police Chief Steven Mendez, Solicitor Kevin Whitlock, Village Administrator Alan Riegsecker, and Fiscal Officer Beth Redinger.
Milliman, who served as mayor from 1976 to 1979, was asked by Beck a few months ago to come back to Stryker to share his thoughts.
“First of all, it’s an honor to be here,” said Milliman, who currently resides with his wife Brenda in Greer, South Carolina.
Milliman, a 1968 SHS graduate, spoke about his experiences in Stryker Village government, explaining that he became involved by filing a petition in July 1975 to run for mayor in the November general election that same year.
“I ran against Everett Zedaker and Jim Leupp, who were both council members at the time, for mayor. I won with 65 percent of the vote,” said Milliman.
“It worked out that I could be here now instead of November, when it was actually fifty years ago.”
Milliman succeeded R.D. Rex, who was mayor at the time. “I can tell you a little bit about that it was probably this same table, for I recall. He (Rex) was sitting there, and I was being sworn in. He (Rex) then threw the keys on the table, and it was the last time I saw him.”
One reason Milliman ran for mayor at a young age was that many local businessmen had encouraged him to run. During his tenure, he was very fortunate to have his father, Duane Milliman, serve on the council from 1976 to 1986.
“A lot of things have changed in Stryker since it was fifty years ago,” said Milliman. “I remember when the present council chambers was the village library. The building next door was the police department in that very little corner in the front, the fire department was to the front, the street, water, and sewer departments was in the back.”
Soon after his election, Milliman decided that something needed to happen, and that was one of the reasons the village wanted to see change.
“Things were pretty stagnant for about ten years,” he said. “One of the changes was that we needed to expand just because there were already some plans, because there was going to be an EMS (Emergency Management Service), and there wasn’t an EMS at the time.
“Fred Grisier (Grisier Funeral Home) drove around in his ambulance to where the accidents were. So we built the building to the back, which now houses village trucks and other equipment.
“We didn’t have enough money at the time to put in a concrete floor. I drove around today, and I see that you have a concrete floor. Milliman also noted several other accomplishments during his mayoral tenure.”
That included the hiring of a second police officer in the village, adding a village administrator who was also licensed to run the sewer treatment plant, and eliminating the Board of Public Affairs as well as the Mayor’s Court.
Milliman, who was employed with General Telephone Company in Bryan, got a job transfer to Bellevue, Ohio; thus, he resigned in July 1979, after serving 3 ½ years as Stryker mayor.
In other action, Redinger reported on the post-audit memo from Keith Faber of the Ohio Auditor of State that was completed on December 31, 2024.
The report recommended that the village develop and implement stronger security policies and procedures to help reduce the risk of unauthorized access to the applications and corresponding data.
It stated the village should periodically test the disaster recovery plan and, as necessary, update the plan based on the results.
A copy of the plan should be kept off-site. It is also recommended that the village improve the process of backing up all critical data and storing it in a secure off-site location.
The memo also pointed out that the village has not established procedures to determine whether the service organization has sufficient control over utility billing transactions to reasonably assure that controls are in place and operating effectively.
“Some of these findings have already been corrected,” pointed out Redinger. “We’ll be spending some money with Kore Communications for a second server backup and then move the servers to the locker room.”
Regarding the upcoming November general election, Mayor Beck pointed out that there are four seats to fill on the village council. Two council members, Wlasiuk and Cameron, have already filed for re-election, while the other two seats remain open.
“What we’ve done in the past is to do letters of interest of individuals, and none of this will happen before the election or even this calendar year,” said Beck.
“But I would like to see letters of interest come in prior to December 1. From that point, what we want to do is to be able to get those out to the council members. Beck noted there are two options for filling the council’s vacant seats.
“The first option is once it comes January 1, 2026, council members will have 30 days to make the selection,” the mayor said. “After the 30 days, it reverts back to this chair.
“It’s been done a couple of different ways, where council has made that selection. We went 30 days once, and then it flipped over to this chair. There was one occasion where it looks like a huge number of individuals, and I think all four spots were open.
“The sitting council members pushed that directly to me. They waived the 30 days and said, ’we don’t want to do it,’ because we were also appointed and they pushed that to me.”
In the police report, Chief Mendez reported that schools are now back in session, and the department will be strictly enforcing traffic laws in and around school zones.
He mentioned that police officer Chelsey Skiver is attending crisis intervention team training in Archbold this week through the Four County ADAMhs Board. The nationally recognized program is designed to improve responses to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
Village administrator Alan Riegsecker reported that a new pump totaling $18,000 will help repair the lift station sewer pump, and work will be done in September.
He also updated the status of the new dump truck, which is now in Kalida and is expected to arrive in the village next week.
The old truck will then be put up for sealed bids and advertised on social media for five weeks. Several people have already shown interest in purchasing it. Council heard the annual leaf collection in the village will begin in mid-October.
Potter updated council members regarding the village’s Fall Fest, set for Saturday, November 1, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. A parade will take place starting at 12:30 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.