He is being challenged by Nicole Condrey, a professional skydiver and general manager of Start Skydiving.
MORE: Read more on the candidates on the Journal-News Voter Guide
The mayor of Middletown is the presiding member of Middletown City Council. The mayor serves a four-year term and receives $9,000 per year in compensation.
The South Main Street resident said his experience in banking and finance industry gives him a broad background to serve the city. In the past four years, he said city has created 800 new jobs and is making progress with its housing study to get Middletown back on the right path.
Mulligan said the city has struggled at times financially noting several years ago, the state government pulled the Local Government Fund that cost Middletown about $1 million per year.
“We still need a plan for paving to execute,” Mulligan said. “We need more funding for paving but we need a sustainable structure.”
He said the city has about $160 million in paving liability and said the increase in the state gas tax will provide about $1 million in additional revenues for Middletown. Mulligan said he proposed a 0.25-percent increase in the city’s income tax that would raise $3 million per year and would be earmarked for paving, but council did not agree to the proposal.
Mulligan said he is looking at the recent improvements and is “looking at it as an opportunity to grow and attract the next generation of families to Middletown.”
He said there has been stagnant growth in the area but that Middletown can be benefit as the Cincinnati and Dayton metro areas continue to come together in the coming years when they reach the city.
“That will be a problem and an opportunity for us,” he said.
Mulligan, a fourth-generation Middletonian, said the city’s greatest strength is its sense of community and its location along the Interstate 75 corridor.
However, he said the Middletown’s biggest challenge is its self-image.
“Sometimes, we can be our worst critics,” Mulligan said. “We need to focus on the positives and keep up with the good things that are going on.”
He said the city has been competitive in the region to attract new businesses and create jobs as it works with JobsOhio and REDI Cincinnati and the Dayton Development Coalition. In addition, the city is working to develop the area’s workforce through The Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton, Cincinnati State and Miami University Middletown. He said the city is also working to actively market land near Atrium Medical Center and further develop Middletown Regional Airport.
Larry Mulligan Jr.
Age: 51
Employment: Chief operating officer/executive vice president of Lebanon Citizens National Bank.
Family: Married; three adult children
Residency: Lifelong resident of Middletown
Other: Appointed to the 2nd Ward seat on Middletown City Council in 2006; became Middletown's first directly-elected mayor in 2007 and re-elected in 2011 and 2015; seeking re-election to fourth term as mayor; has served on boards for the Great Miami YMCA, SELF, LifeSpan, Community First Solutions, Middletown Community Foundation, Moving Middletown Forward, and The Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton; and Butler County United Way treasurer. His brother Joe is a Middletown City Council member and his mother Catherine is a member of the Middletown Board of Education
Education: Miami University, bachelor's degree in finance, minor in mathematics; American Banking Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Website: http://www.facebook.com/Mulligan4Middletown/
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