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Wallen bids bye to council |
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 |
By KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
After serving one term on the Wapakoneta City Council, Councilor-at-large Dr. Ed Wallen is saying goodbye to city politics as Tom Finkelmeier Jr. prepares to take over in his place.
“With today (Monday) being my last day to serve, I will appreciate the little bit more time I will have to do the things I like to do,” the Rev. Wallen said. “Serving on the council and it’s committees takes a good piece of time. I will be 74 come next March, so it’s just time that some of these younger people take over.
“I’m currently working on reformatting the Bible,” the retired pastor said. “I already have three years in it so I have another seven to go.”
Wallen served as pastor of Sharon Park United Methodist Church in Lima after it merged with another church, High Street United Methodist Church.
Wallen worked at Professional Computer Center in Wapakoneta in sales and education prior to winning his seat on council. He also helped with marketing for Otterbein retirement communities in St. Marys and Cridersville.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ashland College and and a master’s and doctorate degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton.
Wallen and his wife of 21 years, Marguerite, have seven children between them.
Wallen, a Democrat, served on the Wapakoneta Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.
In serving as a councilor-at-large for two years, Wallen said he had a hand in contributing to the improvement of many issues facing the council, such as problems with streets and alleys, health and safety and deer hunting within the city limits.
“You would have to ask other council members if I made a difference in serving on the council,” Wallen said with a chuckle. “Overall, I think we all faced each issue rather fairly and listened closely to the concerns every person had within the community.
“When those in the community look at local politicians they think they’re not concerned with what’s going on with the people, but this group (city council) is a good group of people, and I appreciate being given the opportunity to serve,” he said.
With age and health issues playing a key role in his decision to leave the council, Wallen said he never joined the group with plans to serve a long period of time.
“Two years ago there was this group of 25 people who were working to compose a comprehensive plan for the city,” Wallen said. “Because the people working on the plan were no longer serving on the council, I decided to serve in order to provide a good reading and understanding between the city council and members of the community.”
In taking over Wallen’s seat on the Wapakoneta City Council, Finkelmeier admitted he will have his work cut-out for him.
“I’ve known Ed for several years, not only as a friend but as a customer to to my insurance agency,” Finkelmeier said.
“He’s a super nice guy who’s very ethical and cares a lot for the city and it’s people. He will definitely leave me with some big shoes to fill that’s for sure.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 December 2009 )
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