2 fight for St. Marys ward seat

ST. MARYS - Two candidates are vying for the St. Marys City Council 2nd Ward seat in the Nov. 7 general election.

Ashley Randolph, the current 2nd Ward council member, is running for mayor. David A. Thomas, 52, a no-party candidate, and Kyle A. Schmehl, 37, a Republican, are both looking to pick up the seat.

Kyle A. Schmehl  

Schmehl, 37, is a retired 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve. He currently works in network relations at the Telephone Service Company in Wapakoneta and has been with the St. Marys Township Fire Department since 2011. He and his wife, Julie, have a son.

Schmehl said politics are practically in his bloodline.

"It's always been in my blood to be in public service," he said. "My father was on city council in the 1990s. I also have an uncle, Jim Davis, who was on the state general assembly and my cousin (Zach Ferrall) … is the city law director of St. Marys."

"I grew up around politics," he continued. "Dad grew up talking politics ever since I was in diapers, so it's just something I picked up on."

Schmehl underscored the importance of adding more businesses downtown.

"I currently work in downtown Wapakoneta. I see it quite a bit, and I see downtown Celina quite a bit as my wife is from Celina originally," he said. "I just want to see our downtown grow, because I feel we are lacking compared to neighboring towns and communities."

David A. Thomas  

Thomas, 52, is the Auglaize County dog warden. He and his wife, Tina, have three children and four grandchildren.

He said after Randolph announced she was mounting a bid for mayor, she encouraged him to get involved in politics.

"When she decided to run for mayor, she contacted me and asked if I was interested in politics," he said. "Everybody likes to complain about everything, nobody wants to do anything."

Thomas said he is mainly focused on the financial stability of St. Marys.

"Once I get in there and get accustomed to everything that is going on, I'm sure I will find a lot of things that I'm going to try to correct or try to understand," he said. "A lot of people are always complaining about the utility bills. I want to understand why utility bills are so high, and how can we rectify that?"