Council members, city officials and long-time co-workers consider former Mayor Ric Abel's greatest work to be his aim to improve the quality of life in Athens.
Under Abel's administration, Athens saw an expansion of family-friendly venues often funded by grant money, city officials said. The city's old recreation center was demolished and replaced with a new community center, and a skate park was erected nearby. An old church on West State Street was purchased and reconfigured into the 200-seat theater known as the ARTS/West Performing Arts Center.
For the former mayor, expanding upon the city's park system and addressing other quality-of-life issues were not only the biggest projects, but were also the most personal endeavors he undertook in office.
I think it was the most meaningful to me because I grew up here
Abel said. I knew what was available at different times of my life and for my child and for my friends' children
and to have an impact on that and make it better is significant.
Abel and his family moved to Athens in 1954. An Ohio University alumnus, he holds a degree in business with a specialization in accounting.
He spent eight years as a councilman at large (four terms), and an additional six years as city council president. Abel said that given his involvement with the community, running for mayor was a logical progression.
I didn't start out shooting to become mayor
but it became a growing factor from the standpoint of my growth as an individual and what I wanted to do within the community
he said. It seemed like the thing to do.
His time spent in office was more than a decade's worth of opportunities to implement changes in the city. Some have worked, others have failed, but all have been important to the former mayor.
The city's acquisition of Strouds Run State Park was one of the projects Abel wishes he had succeeded, he said. However, the idea was opposed 4-3 by city council in 2006. Abel speculated that council was unsure of the effect Strouds Run would have on the city's finances.
Quality of life was not the only issue on the mayor's mind. Development remained an important issue through Abel's terms with the addition of University Estates, an 830-acre housing village east of Richland Avenue, and University Courtyard, a Richland Avenue apartment complex.
Abel was seen as pro-development although he balanced development with adding green space to Athens, said Ray Hazlett, deputy auditor and former service-safety director, adding that he views the commercial development of East State Street as Abel's biggest accomplishment.
Both Abel's greatest accomplishment and biggest failure was the development of East State Street, said Sarah Sexton, former city council member and current law student at Berkeley.
While he tried to tie up as many loose ends as he could, Abel said that there are still a few things left over for Mayor Paul Wiehl to grapple with, including fire department negotiations, the complicated web of relations between the city and the university and staff appointments.
According to Abel, the city's budget should finally be stabilized in 2011 with the repayment of a $300,000 plus loan, a move that will help the sewer fund and the city's continuing struggle with crumbling infrastructure.
The issue of infrastructure will also require serious planning and examination, which Abel was unable to get to during his terms, said former City Councilman Dale Tampke and Councilman Jim Sands, D-at large.
Looking back, Abel said that while he doesn't have any regrets or qualms concerning any projects he took on during his time in office, there are a few things he wishes he could have seen accomplished, such as a solution to the city's constant understaffing of the police and fire departments.
I would've like to have seen council go along with and put on ballot something for the safety forces
he said. I think we need more police officers and we need more firefighters.
Abel said he plans to take the next few months off to relax and peruse a stack of books he just didn't have the time to read. With his wife, 16-year-old son and cat at home, he said he also plans to spend some time with his family.
Abel said he is considering traveling, possibly to Japan or somewhere out west.
However, even with all of the plans of relaxation, he has not yet officially called off any involvement with city government.
Who knows
six months to a year from now I might be bored and want something to do
he said. I think if you're willing to volunteer your time
you're never going to get bored. But I was doing that before I became mayor
and I'll do it after.
