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These two gentlemen will be missed, to be sure, and the council had its work cut out for itself finding replacements. Mayor Mike Lowrey and the rest of the council were determined to find two new members who were very involved in the community.
Jim Leathley was the first of the new councilmen to be selected. He will fill McIntire’s seat.
I’m told that nearly everyone knows Jim Leathley, who comes from a family that has been here for generations. I remember his parents Elwood and Maxine Leathley and their auction business. Jim and his wife Sharon clerked for them so I’m sure the local folks might know him through that.
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Leathley has always been involved in local schools. He graduated from Tecumseh High School and earned a degree from Ohio State University in agriculture business. He used that degree while on the advisory committee for vocational agriculture at Tecumseh.
Leathley has also been the levy chairman for the Tecumseh Local School District for 25 years.
“I was always a champion for maintaining services that we had, not necessarily increasing taxes,” Leathley said. Maintaining educational standards was important to him.
Those of you who might not know Jim Leathley’s face will certainly know his voice. For 37 years he has been the voice of the Arrows as the announcer for Tecumseh High School basketball, plus he’s been the Tecumseh High School football announcer for 22 years. In the past he has also announced soccer games and spent time coaching youth soccer.
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A member of Tecumseh’s Athletic Hall of Fame, Leathley was recently delighted to learn that in March he will receive the Ohio High School “Friend of Athletes” award for the Southwest Division.
Besides being involved with various aspects of this community, Leathley brings some highly valued skills to the council. He has worked in the financial world for a total of 35 years. His first 14 years were at Farm Credit and then he moved to Security National for the past 21 years. Currently he is a vice president and commercial lender.
“To have someone on council that has so much experience in finance is a big, big plus for us,” said Mayor Lowrey.
Leathley is looking forward to improving on the positive strides already achieved by the council. He stated that he is also encouraged by the accomplishments of the city manager, finance director and staff.
“I come in with no agenda and no vendetta,” said Leathley who simply wants to work for the betterment of the city. “I will do the best I can for the citizens. Hopefully we can improve the finances of the city.”
For a future column I will be speaking with Aaron Leighty the council’s newest member.
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