Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MILFORD -ÊBefore Milford registered voters decide whom to vote for as U.S. president in 2000, they may want to decide who should win this year in the Milford general election.
The 1999 general election is Nov. 2 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. All three positions for Milford town council are up for election this year, as is the clerk-treasurer position.
Clerk-treasurer Charlotte D. Siegfried is running unopposed. A 58-year-old Republican, she is a 25-year resident of Milford. Siegfried said the important issue for her as clerk-treasurer will be "upgrading the computer system."
District One incumbent Republican councilman Douglas Ruch, 38, is up for re-election against Democrat James Brooks.
Ruch is the owner and president of Ruch Service Inc. Serving his sixth year on the council, Ruch said the important issues for Milford for the next few years will be "to continue to grow as a small town, to protect the quality of life that we believe in and to continue enhancement of Main Street and services we provide to taxpayers."
Ruch is a lifetime resident of Milford.
Brooks was not available for comment.
For District Two, current council president Robert J. Beer II, Republican, 27, is up for re-election against John E. Lehman, Democrat.
Beer works at Pine Manor in Goshen and is serving his first term on the council. A lifetime resident of Milford, he said the important issues for Milford will be "sewer plants for one," and continued work on Main Street.
Lehman owns Milford Laundromat and U-Store Warehouses. He is also developing the North Park subdivision.
He served on the town council from 1988 to 1995 and was president of the council during the last four years of his term.
He served on the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals, Kosciusko County Visitor's Bureau and was a former Warsaw Police Department officer.
Lehman's been a Milford resident since 1981.
"I guess the three big issues would be industry, housing and taxes," Lehman said. "They are always the big issues. Just keeping Milford the way it is - a nice, clean community."
He said other important issues for Milford include letting the town department heads keep up the good work they are doing now and to keep taxes low and still have progress.
Robert Phillips, Republican, 40, is running unopposed for the District Three Milford Town Council position.
He is the director of engineering for Damon Corp., Park Trailer Division. He served four years previously on the town council, three years as president.
Phillips has lived in Milford for 15 years.
Asked what he thinks the big issues for Milford will be over the next four years, Phillips said, "It's hard to say because I know a lot of that job in the past has been reacting to issues. That's sort of the nature of the job."
He did say he wants to be proactive in having a new park within town limits. "That's going to depend on finances," he said. "I don't want to burden the people with taxes."
