Virgil Lovitt to resign as Sharonville Mayor

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are devastated that our hero and role model Virgil Lovitt will be resigning as Sharonville Mayor on December 31st.  We learned this awful news last night, and we are still crying our eyes out.  Do you realize that one month from now our close friends Simon Leis, Jean Schmidt, AND Virgil Lovitt will all be out of office?  This is a catastrophe for our tax-and-spend movement. 

Four years ago we proudly named Virgil Lovitt our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year.  And while we have been enormously proud of each and every one of our Tax Hiker of the Year winners, we can honestly say that Virg is our favorite. 

Has anyone done more than our Virg to bring higher taxes his community?  The 2007 Hamilton County Sales Tax hike, numerous Property Tax hikes, a huge 50% Income Tax hike, Hotel/Motel Tax hike, Bob Taft's 3rd Frontier - Virg has supported them all.  Not just content to support higher taxes, Virg understands the need to support great tax hikers for office.  That's why he's been a strong backer of great candidates like Jean Schmidt, Michelle Schneider, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, and even Democrat Todd Portune.

Virg is not only our hero and role model, but he is one of the reasons this site became a huge success.  Many of you remember that Virg's 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year award was prominently featured in the ad wars for his State Representative race that year.  This level attention introduced thousands of people to our website and resulted in us adding many of the loyal readers still with us today.  Virg has been the gift that keeps on giving to our movement and our site.  We will miss him greatly.  We love you Virgil Lovitt!

With that, we sadly leave you with his resignation letter:

Dear Friends,

I am writing today to share that I am retiring as Sharonville Mayor effective the end of this year. I find it hard to believe that it’s been 16 years since I accepted this role. I hope that I have built upon the great reputation that Sharonville already had earned from Paul Kattelman and John Dowlin’s administrations.

I know, without a doubt, that Sharonville is much more than a city government. It is a community that thrives on the countless efforts of our volunteers and residents. It is a community that really cares about our neighbors, our businesses and our amenities. This is the core of what makes Sharonville special and allows our city to stand out.

Frequently I have been asked how I manage to do” everything” on my plate and I always reply with, “there are so many good people holding me up everywhere.” This is absolutely the truth. Our administrative team and employees are terrific. They take great pride in doing their utmost best to serve our residents and businesses. And, our civic and business groups give thousands of hours and lots of donations every year to make Sharonville a great place to live and work. These are all of the ingredients that make a community strong.

So, why am I retiring? Actually, it’s because our city is in a really good place right now. The city revenues are strong, our expenses are under control, and our reserves are solid. Many of our complicated projects are now complete and our departments are well managed and operating well. This is a good time for the city to have a transition.

For me personally, it is, also, a good time for a transition. I have enjoyed the honor of being Mayor for the last 16 years and a part of Council for 9 years before that. I am looking forward to more time and flexibility with my family. Also, my State Farm Agency has become so busy that I need to devote more time working with my clients. It has become difficult to do everything well, and this will allow me to focus on my family and family business.

I am not leaving this great community and I will stay involved in many ways. I appreciate this opportunity to serve and I thank this City and the Community of Sharonville for all of the support they have given to me.

Virgil Lovitt
2008 Tax Hiker of the Year