blue water woman--summer 2018--YUMPU

year of the
woman
by dale hemmila
8 Summer 2018 BlueWaterWoman.com
Kathy hayman
While 2018 is being touted as “The Year of the Woman” in reference
to the vast number of women running for elected office, residents of the
Blue Water Area don’t have to look very far to find women serving as
local elected officials.
And while she is not a part of this 2018 political trend, Marysville City
Councilwoman Kathy Hayman is an advocate.
“I absolutely believe women have a lot of good ideas and we think
differently than men,” she said recently while reflecting on her three
years on the city council. “We deserve to be at the table and to help move
things forward.”
Hayman, a Marysville native and resident of the city for 51 of her 58
years, was elected to the council in 2015 and this year was selected by
her fellow council members to serve as Mayor Pro Tem. Hayman’s 2015
campaign was her first attempt to run for elected office, but it was not her
first bid to join the city council. She applied to fill a vacant seat in 2013
but wasn’t selected. That loss motivated her to get on the ballot.
Her thought at the time: “I wasn’t picked, so I’ll run.”
She ran and she won. That probably shouldn’t be a surprise for those
in Marysville aware of her family history. Her father, Joseph Johns,
served on the city council almost continually from 1951 to 2013. In fact,
Marysville City Council Chambers are named after him.
“I’ve grown up with (that service),” she said. “I watched and always
admired my dad; he was a very good role model. I wanted to be a part of
it just to help move (the city) forward.”
One of her hopes is to help transform Marysville, currently a city
spread out with strip malls, standalone businesses and residences.
“There are a lot of cool things going on in this city but I want to create
a downtown,” she said. “We don’t know where it will be, perhaps the
old DTE site depending on what happens there, but some place that’s
walkable with shops and restaurants.”
Whether that’s a realistic goal only time will tell. Certainly there would
be costs involved, but Hayman, who has been the controller for 18 years
for Harrison Township-based Electrex Industrial Solutions, has a good
feel for how budgeting works. Calling herself middle of the road when it
comes to politics, she is not afraid to look ahead financially.
“There’s only so much money to go around,” she said. “But we have to
be progressive and move forward.”
As in many small towns, that means a council that is working in sync
and Hayman believes Marysville leadership is in good hands.
“We try to work together and complement each other,” she said,
referring to the council. “We try to be transparent and that’s very
important to all of us.”
That includes continuing to apply her controller skills to Marysville
budgeting while acknowledging, however, that the city budget “has a
couple of more zeros” to try to manage. She says managing the different
department budgets while protecting funding for legacy items such as
city pensions is an important goal.
Hayman encourages other women to run for elected office.
“Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb,” she said. “Take a deep breath
and do it. Don’t be afraid of the guys; give back to the community when
it’s your time. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake; it’s how we learn.”
As for her own political future, she plans to stay active.
“If our current mayor doesn’t run again, I will run for mayor,” she said.
That would certainly be a nod to her family’s history of service and
perhaps a look to the future with three-year-old granddaughter Zola
looking on.
“I hope I can be a role model for my granddaughter,” Hayman said.
“We (women) need to be heard.”