LEADING BY SERVICE

The City of Clyde feels like it's in a rut. The current City Council has served for 2 decades and the time for change is now. This November 2nd, 2021 - Vote for Chris Shay and lets put our small town back on the map where it belongs.

Revitalization

Revitalize the city to make it more “walkable” for city residents and inviting for visitors. This could entail improvements such as, more and easier access for the physically disabled, wider and updated sidewalks, public events in the city plaza, and outdoor arts and entertainment. Many quaint small towns such as ours, with interesting and rich history, are becoming popular vacation destinations. We could find ways to capitalize on the city’s rich history and beauty and be inviting to out of town visitors. I would like to see increased activities through our recreation department including bringing back movies at the Aquatic Center, family night movies downtown, and other forms of entertainment. I would look at ways to bring back Clyde in Bloom or some form of beautification project that we are sorely lacking at the moment.

Communication

Our city leadership has lost its way in effectively communicating with the citizens of this town. Residents have the perception that they are ignored or disregarded. Some of our council members still have very limited methods of communicating with the public and have fallen behind modern times. This slows efficiency and costs the taxpayers in many ways. As an elected member of council, I will continue communicating city business through my Facebook page. Citizens of Clyde don’t often have the time or the interest to attend every meeting and I plan on continuing with my bi-weekly summaries of the City’s meetings. This way, residents who are interested can keep up to date on various subjects they may find interesting or pertinent to their lives.

Difficult Issues

Tackling the difficult issues that have no easy answers but are a real concern for city residents. Such as, neighborhood property management concerns, domestic and stray animal complaints, and neighborhood crime/drug activity. I will never claim to have the immediate answers to these concerns, but I assure you that I will focus the council on looking for solutions, and not excuses.

Term Limits

I believe in term limits. I declare that I will only seek a maximum of 12 years in service as a council member. Beyond that, there is a tendency to lose focus, lose a viable vision for the city and become complacent in the position.

About Chris

The responsibility of service for a cause greater than me began from the moment I was born. I was born into a career navy family on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy in Maryland. As a son of a career naval officer, I lived all over the country, including Hawaii. I got to witness with my own eyes my father selflessly serving our country, often at the expense of his own family. It was those experiences that instilled in me a desire to serve. It was later in life, after accepting Christ as my savior that I discovered my calling in this life was to serve.

I enlisted in the United States Navy in 1983 and ended up serving 8 years. After all the training, my active duty consisted of serving 18 months at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, primarily working in the emergency room. It was there that I learned to hone my skills in saving lives. The last two years of my active-duty status was spent aboard the USS Nimitz, CVN-68. The Nimitz was America’s premier aircraft carrier at the time. It was very exciting serving aboard such a large navy vessel. We sailed all over the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. I was able to experience the sites and the culture of so many countries. In 1987 I was honorably discharged from active duty and transferred to the naval reserves. I spent most of those four years stationed at the reserve station in Toledo, Ohio. My enlistment came to an end just as Operation Desert Storm kicked up.

After moving to Ohio, I got married and began a career in Emergency Medical Services as a nationally registered EMT. While I worked full time and raised a family, I managed to graduate from a yearlong Paramedic program and graduated from the Ohio police academy in Fremont. For the next 17 years I worked full time as a paramedic for Sandusky County EMS while working part time as a Clyde police officer.

Today I am retired from the police department as well as the County EMS. I graciously accepted a position on the City of Clyde Civil Service commission and am proud to contribute to the hiring of city employees.

I spend my weekdays mowing grass part time at a care center and working on things around the house. I am remarried to a beautiful loving woman named Jeanette (Smith). Our children are all grown up and have successful lives of their own.

My weekends are usually spent teaching corporations, as well as citizens, on ways they can defend themselves in violent situations. I own Trident Security Solutions and we are a security training and consulting company.

When not working, I can usually be found volunteering at my church, writing blogs, reading non-fiction, or participating in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the dojo.

Matthew 5:42 says, “Learn to generously share what you have with those who ask for help, and don’t close your heart to the one who comes to borrow from you.”