To the Editor:

I want to address some of the lies that are being told about me in this upcoming election. Our City Charter says, “The president of the commission, who shall have the title of mayor, shall preside at meetings of the commission and perform such other duties consistent with his office as may be imposed by the commission. He shall be recognized as the official head of the city for all ceremonial purposes, by the courts for the purpose of serving civil process, and by the governor for military purposes.” All commissioners have equal vote and representation.

As mayor, I held a meeting on being a candidate. The meeting highlighted how the process worked. This meeting was presented by local Attorney Mike Gutmann. It is not easy to find people to run for Commission. In this time of negativity, many do not want to put their hat in the ring. I, for one, can understand this as I have been attacked and misrepresented.

We moved here in 2008 and quickly fell in love with Piqua! We have volunteered at: Bethany Center, Salvation Army Summer Lunch Program, passing out food during the pandemic, and have served on local committees and boards. We have given tirelessly of our time to help the city we adopted back in 2008 as our home.

I ran for office because I wanted to help our city. In my tenure a mayor, I spoke at numerous conferences throughout the Miami Valley promoting Piqua. I did my very best to serve our citizens with energy and integrity.

The Lock 9 project was delayed due to the pandemic. Prior to that, work was done to prepare the site. The Piqua City Pool has had issues for years, long before I ever came onto the Commission. The city did its best to keep it going. I am a proponent for keeping the Hance Pavilion open. What a wonderful landmark it is for our city! I am proud of the arts in our community. Issues need to be addressed to bring it up to code taking money, and in the times we are in, money is tight.

I am proud to call Piqua home. I am not proud of the negativity we are hearing. My wish is that we could spend more time building one anther up, instead of tearing one another down. And friends, the future of Piqua depends on just this!

— Kazy B. Hinds

Piqua