Editor’s note: We asked listeners to tell us what questions they would ask the mayor of their community. Over the next few months, WYSO is speaking with local mayors to answer those questions.
The city of Miamisburg had a population just under 20,000 in the last Census. It sits along the Great Miami River and played a unique historical role during the Cold War.
In this conversation with WYSO, Mayor Michelle Collins says the city is still working on an industrial renaissance while keeping its downtown appeal.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Jerry Kenney: Tell me a little bit about your history with the city, if you served in other capacities.
Michelle Collins: I have. First of all, I was raised here. In 1984, graduated in the high school, and I own a real estate brokerage in town, which I have had for 38 years. Then I ran for council after my kids grew up and didn't need me as much, so I served on council four years. Then I was elected to mayor. The first female mayor of Miamisburg in 200 years and I served four years and then I was reelected and I'm in the first year of my second term.
Kenney: Okay. And what year were you first elected?
Collins: I was sworn in 2019 on New Year's Eve and then Covid hit. So my first term as mayor, especially the first year, was pretty challenging.
Kenney: To say the least. How do you feel the city came out of that crisis?
Collins: Our downtown merchants, our restaurants really kind of banded together to keep each other afloat. Our residents really rallied around our mom and pop shops and our independently owned restaurants. I was so impressed with how the citizens supported other citizens in Miamisburg.
Kenney: As a long time resident of Miamisburg and someone who has served not only as just a resident but also as part of the city services to its residents. What makes Miamisburg the place to live?
Collins: Our downtown. It's not repeatable. It's an historic downtown. The owners of the buildings have really taken the time to restore them properly. And we have now our completed Riverfront Park and we're fortunate to have the Great Miami run through our park, the Great Miami River Way, the Great Miami Bikeway. It's all in own downtown Miamisburg. So there's just so much to do here. People love to shop locally. They love to eat locally and so they can come to Miamisburg and experience all of that.
Kenney: Let's talk a little bit about the business climate. I know you've got several initiatives underway, one of which is the Mound Collaborative, which is geared toward starting new businesses and spurring interest there.
Collins: Yeah, we just did a ribbon cutting on that, Jerry, and it is a great space. A lot of people know that Miamisburg is the home to the Department of Energy, or was at one time. On, I call it The Hill; most people do, there were 2,500 DOE workers up there, and when they closed, Miamisburg was left with, 'Now what do we do with the space?' So it's been cleaned up to industrial standards. There are new businesses up there and the Mound Collaborative is a beautiful space that gives small business owners, people who want to network with each other or people who work by themselves who just want to feel that they're part of a nest. There's office space there. There are office resources to share like reception areas and meeting spaces, and they share internet, they share the copier, they share the coffee pot, and they pay a small rent to be there. It's half a mile out of downtown Miamisburg, so it's been a huge success.
Kenney: I looked at some of the pricing there and it is not priced to keep people out. It's very reasonable for someone to get in with minimal means.
Collins: Yes. $100 a month will get you the right to use the space, get you cubicles. April Houser, our Mound Development coordinator up there, runs the collaborative. You get a scan-card to scan in and out of the space. It's very secure, which you can go in on your hours. It's not a 9 to 5 situation. If you work your regular job and you're brainstorming or doing a side hustle at night, that space is there to access.
Kenney: We put out feelers on social media about what was taking place in cities, what's going right, what are the challenges? And something that covered a lot of cities in the Dayton suburbs was crime. Talk a little bit about how Miamisburg is dealing with that and actually what the situation is.
Collins: We had our former police chief, Chief John Sedlak, do a crime study that he presented to council. I want to say off the top of my head, it was probably about 5 or 6 months ago, and myself and the seven members of council were pleasantly surprised that the crime statistics aren't anywhere like you would conceive if all of your information comes from social media.
Unfortunately, one bad thing can happen in Miamisburg, or any municipality, and when you see it on social media, you don't know. Is the truth being told? Has it been blown out of proportion? So we were really thrilled as a council to see the numbers we were at. And we're extremely fortunate.
Yesterday at City Council, I swore in the brand new chief of Police Chief Michael Brem and he's got some new initiatives he's going to bring forward and really kind of rally his troops and just bring some fresh ideals to our city and we're thrilled to have him. He is retired from Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, and now he comes to us to serve as police chief.
Kenney: Another challenge for a lot of cities that we've talked to is budgeting. Does your new police chief have what he needs to work with and do your other departments? Are they getting funding that they need, especially when you consider that the Covid pandemic released a lot of funding into communities and that is going away?
Collins: We have been operating on pretty much an even budget for few, many years. In my recent memory, we have not overspent our budget. Sometimes we predict a deficit budget, maybe $400,000 or $500,000 here or there, but we end up making it up throughout the year, maybe in income tax collections where a little bit higher. And now property tax collections, unfortunately, are going to be higher because everyone's county property taxes went up. And we have the best department heads that if they can save money, they don't spend it just because it's in their budget. Our police department just got a raise, so yeah, they're well funded. Our fire district, Miamisburg is one of the few municipalities that participate in a fire district. They are actually their own entity and they serve Miamisburg and Miami Township. So they operate themselves. And I predict they're doing budgeting right now all the department heads.
I have complete faith in our city manager and the department heads that run each department, they make sure that they stay within their expenses and try to exceed collections.
Kenney: What do you think might be some other challenges for the city?
Collins: I don't call it a challenge, but we're going through growing pains. We're doing a parking study right now downtown. It is a challenge to find a parking spot downtown in Miamisburg throughout the week, especially on the weekends. I say it's a challenge to people who come to Miamisburg. The people who live here know where the public lots are and know the alleys to zip through to find those parking spots.
I tell people that I don't think we have a parking problem. We have a walking problem. There is parking available and we're going through that study right now and how to make that more visible to people who visit and how to make it just more accommodating for our residents and for people that come and enjoy Miamisburg.
