For 32 years David Berger has been mayor of the City of Lima, but before he took office, he helped this area gain national attention for another reason.
Jeff Fitzgerald sat down with Lima’s longest serving mayor to talk about his tenure of service to the city. Before taking office, Berger moved to Lima in 1977 to run a housing agency. The agency took on a new project to rebuild homes in the 100 block of Eureka Street that had fallen into disrepair. To help get labor for the project, Berger contacted the women's reformatory in Marysville, who bussed in 30 women prisoners daily to learn about construction and help rebuilt the homes.
“They did an outstanding job. They made national news,” says Berger. “It really was a fascinating community engagement. In fact, what we did here then got replicated in terms of the involvement of inmates all across Ohio. Eventually I was told there were upwards of a 1,000 inmates out doing community work. Not necessarily doing housing renovations, they were doing all kinds of community work all across the state.”
To see more from our interview with Mayor David Berger, check out our special “The Berger Years: Start to Finish” this Saturday, November 27th at 7 p.m. on NBC Lima.
