Jamie Lee Goehring

Local business owner and longtime Butler resident Jamie Lee Goehring announced that she is running in the Butler mayoral election.

“It is my desire to stay issue-focused and work toward resolving the many problems our city faces,” Goehring said in a statement.

Goehring, 33, also goes by Jamie Lee Menchyk. She will be running in the Democratic primary.

She has lived in Butler for 22 years. She is a co-owner of Hudson Business Service, which provides accounting and tax-preparation services to businesses in the Butler area.

Goehring said her business experience will aid her in helping the city improve its financial situation.

“I work primarily with small businesses within our area, so I have come to understand and know the difficulties that many of them are facing,” she said. “I work a lot with budgeting and forecasting. I work with accountability and structure. I have brought several companies on board that needed to have an overhaul in the way their practices in accounting work have been done, and we have brought them back up to successful companies once more.”

Goehring noted the city’s financial stability as a primary focus of her campaign.

“I would like to see some developments within downtown that would actually bring in a new base of taxes, of revenue, of having more residents that are able to utilize the businesses that we have,” she said. “(I want to) promote cultural development and promote a better revenue stream for our city.”

She elaborated.

“Our businesses are suffering greatly from not being able to reach or pull in the monetary stream that they need,” she said. “We’ve nickeled and dimed too many things to dissuade people from utilizing the services of downtown, so coming to a ground where we can promote that again, where we can bring in more revenue for our businesses is number one for me.”

She also said the city’s heroin problem will be a major focus of her campaign.

“That just needs to be combated head on, and we need to work closely with the drug task force and the police department, and really start tackling this problem before it gets any worse,” she said. “I’d like to do that by bringing our police department back up to having a stronger force and have more officers actually working. I’d like to bring their technology up to date and their training up to date.”

Goehring also spoke of seeking grant money for early-intervention programs for the city’s children.

“I think that there’s a lot of value, there’s a lot of studies that have shown that making that awareness at earlier ages can help prevent addiction problems as (children) grow older,” she said.

This will be Goehring’s first time running for a political office. She completed the Butler Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Butler County Program in 2012.

She also works with Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week, the state’s largest summer business program, and operates Stuff the Bus, a clothing drive for underprivileged children.

Goehring commented on her opposition.

“Anyone choosing to give themselves, their time or their energy toward working to resolve our city’s problems has my utmost respect,” she said. “I think that we can all agree that we can put negativity aside and work toward the common goal of making our city the best that it can be.”

The first day for mayoral candidates to circulate and file nomination petitions is Tuesday. They must have 100 signatures to be eligible to run for mayor of Butler.

The last day to register to vote in the primary elections is April 17, and the primary elections will be held May 16.

The winner of the mayoral election will receive a $10,000 annual salary and health insurance, part of which he or she will pay.