Jamie Lee Goehring said she was inspired by a previous female mayor of Butler to run for the office.

Former Mayor Maggie Stock was one of Goehring’s professors at Butler County Community College, and led the city with style, she said.

Stock served as mayor from 2006 to 2013 and is a retired professor at BC3.

“She was my inspiration for wanting to take this position on,” Goehring said. “She carried it with class. It’s always nice to have a strong female to look up to.”

Goehring, a 34-year-old Democrat, said she originally planned to run for the office the next election cycle, but decided a change in city leadership was needed sooner.

She is facing Republican candidate Benjamin Smith in the upcoming election. The mayor’s annual salary is $10,000.

“With the problems we’ve seen with Mayor Donaldson, it just seemed like four more years under his leadership would be the final nail in the coffin of the city. I realized the current leadership was not up to the task of preventing our city from going into Act 47,” Goehring said.

Act 47 is a state oversight program for financially distressed municipalities that offers technical and financial assistance for recovery.

Goehring said there have also been organizational and leadership issues during the last four years. The Centre City project has harmed the city’s bond rating and is not being managed effectively, she said.

The project includes the completed parking garage on Cunningham Street and the not-yet-completed Marriott Springhill Suites hotel. S&P Global lowered the city’s bond rating twice this year due to debt from the project.

Another issue is not having a chief in the fire department and Donaldson never publicly explaining the former chief’s departure, Goehring said.

“That’s reduced the functionality of the department. It has cast the department in a negative light. They have been treated pretty unfairly since,” she said.

Having a chief is necessary for fire inspections and hiring part-time firefighters to reduce overtime, Goehring said, adding she would seek qualified candidates for the job and hire a chief through a council vote.

Goehring said she would reinstate the desk sergeant position in the police department. She said a desk sergeant can prioritize calls for police service and answer questions.

She said she would expand the city’s existing Crime Watch program to help police keep neighborhoods safe. Increasing crime and opioid use make parents afraid to let their children play outside, Goehring said.

“It will provide an actionable network for the drug task force and help reduce crime,” Goehring said.

The entire city would benefit from better enforcement of the nuisance ordinance and creation of commercial and residential rental property inspection programs, she said. The nuisance ordinance includes fines for things like junk vehicles, unruly behavior and pets.

“It needs better enforcement so residents feel they have some power again,” Goehring said.

She said inspection programs for commercial and residential rental properties are also needed, to reduce blight.

A small commercial building on East Jefferson Street is where Goehring runs Hudson Business Service with her partners — her mother and brother.

Her mother, whose maiden name is Hudson, started the business 25 years ago and Goehring said she started working there 17 years ago.

The business provides accounting and payroll services for many area businesses and assists with startup businesses, she said.

She said she is working toward a bachelor’s degree in business administration at BC3.

Goehring has been married to Matthew Menchyk for a year and a half and has three children — Codi, 9, Savanah, 11, and Devin, 18 — from her previous marriage.

She said she was born in Butler Township, but has lived in the city for 20 years.