My name is Jonathan Montag, and I am a candidate for Berea City Council in Ward 1. My wife Meg and I have lived in Berea since 2006 and before that we lived in Lakewood and Cleveland. I am currently employed with PNC Bank as a Quality Assurance Engineering Test Lead. Our daughter graduated from the “Old” Berea Midpark High School in 2019. We are members of St Paul Lutheran Church here in Berea, where I have served on Church Council for 10 of the past 12 years, with 6 of those years serving as Church Council President. I am also the Finance Committee Chairperson.

Meg serves as Treasurer for the Berea Arts Fest and runs the Kids Creation Station tent on Arts Fest Day. I have helped with several fund raisers for the Arts Fest over the years and have marched in the parade with the Arts Fest. I can put a plug here that the Arts Fest is always looking for volunteers.

My primary reason for running for City Council has to do with what I feel has been a lack of communication from previous and current council members representing Ward 1. I have sent several emails over the years and rarely get a response to my questions from our Council Person in our ward, but I sometimes receive a response from an ‘At Large’ Council Person. I feel that if you are going to represent people in a Ward, the least you can do is acknowledge communication received from your constituency.

In 2018, after my daughter Marissa was hit by a car at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Maple Avenue on her way to school. She was fine other than a few bumps and bruises. I lobbied for School Zone signage to be placed on both streets. We now have School Zone signs in place on both streets. I also lobbied the City and School District to Enforce the 5 ton weight limit on our street, so that school buses would stop using our street as a cut through. “No Buses” signs were posted on both Fifth Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

I believe that our City is a great place to bring up a family. The City is well run, as the finances will show. But there is always room for financial improvement and for City Leadership to engage with their constituency. I also firmly feel that the City needs to engage with and communicate more openly with the companies and stakeholders that do business in the city. I also firmly believe that acting ethically and having an open mind to new ways of doing things, are the key to moving our City forward.