By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

Bucyrus residents believed in what Jeff Reser has done during his short time as mayor and decided to set him in the office for an official term.

Reser soundly defeated his three opponents in Tuesday’s General Election by a three to one margin. His closest adversary, former mayor Dan Ross, finished the night with 656 votes to Reser’s 2,090. Joshua Weiler gained 254 votes while local businessman Louis Katona III garnered 215 votes.

Reser will retain his current office for his first official term as Bucyrus mayor after having been appointed to the position due to the sudden death of former mayor Roger Moore in May.

“I’m honored and humbled,” Reser said. “I think people like the management we have – myself and Jeff Wagner. We bring some skills to the city of Bucyrus that haven’t been seen in a while. We both come from strong business backgrounds and I think people like that . . . Thank you to the voters, from the bottom of our hearts.”

Reser and Wagner are excited about the upcoming term.

“I’ve learned so much over the last year,” Reser said. “I hit the ground running. We had a lot of things happen with the merge right away, with the EPA issue, the water plant, budgets. I mean, there’s so much to learn. It just hit me at the right time in my life, you know. I was ready for this challenge, took it on, and I’ve loved it.”

Three seats were up for grabs in the Council At-Large positions, the only other contested race for Bucyrus city officials. Mark Makeever (1,874), incumbent Wanda Sharrock (1,635), and former councilmember Dan Wirebaugh (1,289) will be taking those seats when the new year rolls around. Makeever and Wirebaugh replace long-time council members John Walker and Richard Rockwell.

Though Makeever wasn’t yet a council member, he had attended nearly every Bucyrus City Council meeting since spring to prepare for the position.

“At least I won’t go in there blind,” Makeever said wryly. “I’ll know how procedure works. There’s still a lot to learn.”

Makeever said he didn’t like the way things were going and decided to make a run for a council seat. He hopes to focus on fiscal expenditures.

The following results are the uncontested races in Bucyrus, all of which are incumbents for the positions: City Council President Sis Love (2,382), City Auditor Joyce Schifer (2,499), City Law Director Rob Ratliff (2,353), First Ward Council member Bruce Truka (419), Second Ward Council member Monica Sack (655), and Third Ward Council member Bill O’Rourke (808).

Steve Pifer submitted his name as a write-in for the Fourth Ward council seat. Those numbers will be released at a later date.