New Millersburg Mayor Hoffee ready to get to work

While serving as a member of Millersburg Village Council, Kelly Hoffee wanted village citizens to feel welcome and heard at council meetings.

Hoffee learned as a council member that what she desired was tied directly to the mayor.

“The mayor runs the council meetings,” said Hoffee, who has been a council member since 2016. “The mayor sets the culture of council. We still had people even when I was on council that didn’t feel like they were being heard, that felt like they were treated rudely or dismissed.”

That was a key factor in Hoffee’s decision to run for mayor. Hoffee defeated incumbent Jeff Huebner during the November election and will begin her tenure as Millersburg mayor beginning Jan. 1.

“I think (Millersburg is) in a good position right now,” Hoffee said. “I think we have a lot of room for improvement. But where we have come from in the last 15 years, I think we’re doing well.”

Hoffee plans to make some changes within the first month of her taking office.

First, she plans to change the culture of council, making it a more inclusive space where all village residents can feel comfortable sharing their opinions and offering suggestions.

Second, she plans to change some committee appointments.

“We have some new people that would like to be involved, and I would like to be more inclusive in committee appointments,” she said.

Hoffee has other things she plans to get done during her first year as mayor.

One of those is creating an advisory committee made up of people in marketing, retail, investment and real estate to come up with a plan to attract businesses and create housing.

“I just think we need better paying jobs, and with those jobs is going to come the need for more housing,” she said. “If we can work in tandem with those on an advisory committee, I think that would be great.”

Another is solidifying how Millersburg factors into the Holmes County strategic initiative — which is essentially a plan for what the county and the village would like to achieve in the coming years — and having a clear idea about what the village wants to accomplish over the next 15 years.

Another is using social media, email and postal access to make sure village citizens are always informed about what’s happening in Millersburg.

“In this day and age of social media, there’s no reason why everyone shouldn’t know what’s going on in the village, and I am going to have office hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings,” Hoffee said.

Having open office hours separate from council meetings is one of the ways Hoffee hopes to build trust between village residents and their local government.

“One of the things that I heard when I was campaigning as well as when other people were out campaigning was ‘I came to council five years ago, and I was treated terribly, and I won’t go back,’” Hoffee said. “I want to bridge that gap. If somebody’s not comfortable coming to council, then I want them to know that there’s a time that they can come down to Village Hall and just sit and talk with me one on one because it is intimidating coming into council and standing up in front of a microphone and trying to say all of the things that are going through your brain, and I understand that’s intimidating. The first time I went to council, it was extremely intimidating, so I think just having more one-on-one opportunities would be good.

“The other thing in conjunction with that is if I don’t have people coming in and talking with me, I’m giving the village four hours of work every week. If the water bills need to be torn apart or (village administrator) Nate (Troyer) needs something done or phone calls need to be made, whatever that is, I’m there to work.”

Hoffee currently lives in Millersburg and has resided in Holmes County for the past 22 years. She was born and raised in Smithville, but her roots are in Holmes County.

Her fourth great-grandfather was born in 1812 where Holmes County is currently located but before it was officially a county. His son David also was born there in 1847. David’s son then moved to Wayne County to start a Mennonite church, and that’s how Hoffee ended up growing up in Wayne County.

Hoffee is excited to help Millersburg continue to grow in the coming years.

“There are a lot of people that have solutions to problems, and I think a lot of times people think that just because you’re in government, whether it’s local government, state government or federal government, you have all the answers,” she said. “And that’s just not true. Some of the greatest ideas have come from people who aren’t in government.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing what people have to say and hearing ideas they have that we can implement because I think when we all come together, we’re better.”