“I share that same aspiration, and those same visions,” he said.
Ryan has three main areas he would focus on if elected: “Job creation and job retention; neighborhood beautification and revitalization; and the enhancement of arts and entertainment for all ages — not just the 20-somethings,” he said.
Ryan worked for several funeral homes in the region, including in Loveland and Xenia, and with Brown-Dawson-Flick Funeral Home in Hamilton for about 4½ years. The past 1½ years, he has been a life insurance underwriter for Western Southern Financial Group in Downtown Cincinnati.
The West Side resident (Badin High School, Class of 2003) received a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations in 2008, and later earned an associate’s degree in applied sciences in 2010 from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science.
In his youth, he helped his father campaign door-to-door for office, and enjoyed meeting voters, council members and city administrators.
“Early on, I was getting huge exposure to the public-service realm,” he said.
“I’ve always had an interest in politics, including local politics,” he said. “Ever since my dad was involved in city council, and him being mayor (from 2002-2010), I’ve always paid attention to what was going on here in Hamilton.”
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“Over the years I was able to get involved with a couple of community organizations, like Rotary and BNI (Business Network International), which is a networking group,” he said.
“Meeting people, and getting to know folks around town, I was contemplating a run a couple years ago, but the timing just wasn’t right,” Ryan said. “I had a lot of folks approach me about that, and saying, ‘Look into it,’ and stuff like that.”
Now that he no longer works as a funeral director — he worked weekends and often had to get up in the middle of the night for that job — “I have time dedicated now to serve the community, and I think the timing is perfect for me to run,” he said.
“Hamilton is on the up, and even if it wasn’t on the up, I’d still run,” he said.
“I’m running strictly to ensure that the momentum that we have now continues, and that the foundations that have been placed in all aspects of the community — from the downtown revitalization, from the business creation that’s going on, and the business retention, and just the overall developments and the attitudes,” Ryan said.
Up for election this year are Hamilton’s position of mayor, held by Pat Moeller, as well as those of three council members: Robert M. Brown; Timothy Naab and Rob Wile.
So far, Ryan, Brown and the Rev. ShaQuila Mathews have had their paperwork certified to run in the council race, while Naab and four others have taken out the required paperwork but have not yet filed it.
Moeller and two others have obtained paperwork necessary to file, but have not yet returned it.
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