My name is W. Jamie Ruehl and I’m running for Edgewood City Council.
In the winter of 2023, a current member of council approached me asking if I would consider running. I value Darla Kettenacker’s wisdom and mentorship, so I considered her proposition. I have a natural bent towards service and she knew one of my passions is efficient plans and operations.
I began to look at what it meant to serve my city on council. I’ve attended Edgewood City Council meetings since this past April. I watched the budget proposal and approval process. I observed citizens attempt to bring concerns to the mayor’s attention. I saw how our council members interacted with the mayor, city administrator, and city attorney as they vetted ballot measures and infrastructure decisions. I decided to run to serve my city again.
Our city is set up as a strong-mayor/city council government. Basically, we have a city council composed of seven members (elected every 2 years) and a mayor (elected every 4 years) who represents our citizens. I remember from my time at the police department that Edgewood has a city administrator that reports directly to the mayor and who is held accountable by our council.
In 2016 I interacted with the city administrator when applying for my master’s degree at NKU’s Haile College of Business. The city has a tuition reimbursement program for employees, and I earned a masters of Executive Leadership/Organizational Change to increase my professional expertise and incorporate that newfound knowledge into our Edgewood police department. I strive for continual improvement with an optimistic approach every day.
My extended family has called Edgewood home for over 60 years. I’ve lived in this city for almost 16 years and worked at our police department for over 3 years. Prior to that, when I was in the Army, I lived in diverse regions of the world with varying levels of government sophistication. I lived in Hawaii for almost 4 years. I lived in Georgia (U.S. state not country) for a year. I lived in Mosul, Iraq for a year. I lived in Virginia for 2 months. I lived in Thailand for a month.
When I look at our city, I look at it through many lenses with experience as a Christian, husband, father, former US Army Captain, Edgewood Police Officer and currently as a Commercial General Liability Insurance Staff Adjuster. There are many reasons my wife and I chose to call this city home and raise our family here. If you haven’t been to Edgewood, I would encourage you to check it out! While we will never run out of topics to debate, we have much to celebrate. In 2019, Edgewood was voted the #1 city in the state to live in and we were #17 in the NATION. My goal is continual improvement with an optimistic mind frame.
To my fellow Edgewood residents: I’m asking for your vote so I can continue the legacy of Edgewood success. I’m asking for your vote so I can represent you in a spirit of ever-improving government. My name is on the ballot (at the bottom because we randomly drew from a hat to determine placement), but I am asking you to consider me first when voting. Thank you.
Jamie Ruehl is an Edgewood resident and candidate for city council