Ahead of November’s general election, Dr. Kevin Rider has announced his intention to run for Delaware’s Fourth Ward seat on City Council.

In a press release announcing his campaign, Rider said he is “excited to apply nearly 25 years of engineering and management experience to help strengthen Delaware to grow as one of the most desirable cities in Ohio.”

Rider, who holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, has been a Delaware resident since moving to central Ohio in 2011. He is the owner of Forensic Human Factors, a small litigation consulting company that helps attorneys resolve personal injury cases around the country. Previously, he was also a professor at West Virginia University.

“I do love government and politics,” Rider told The Gazette of his decision to run. “I’ve been working in kind of the legal and civic community for the last 15 years. Basically, this is just an opportunity for me to be able to give back. So many things the city is dealing with right now, I have either had direct experience on similar issues or near it. We start talking about infrastructure, transportation, and housing, these are things that have touched me personally for a long time.”

Rider added, “I’ve been on committees, and I’ve led all kinds of organizations and research laboratories, for that matter, in terms of basically using money wisely. That’s a big issue with what Delaware is being confronted with right now, fiscal responsibility and growing, and basically these high-ticket-cost items in terms of repairing roadways and other issues we just don’t have the money for. It’s going to be a really interesting process, and I think it’s critical to have someone in there who has dealt with constrained and high-level financial situations.”

Asked about specific areas on which he would want to focus should he be elected, Rider credited the city’s Delaware Together Comprehensive Plan for already creating a “great trajectory” for the community. Rather than try to redirect the city’s efforts in the years to come, Rider said many of his goals revolve around bringing the plan to life.

“Helping to make sure that (plan) happens is critical, and City Council is in the primary seat to ensure that happens,” Rider said. “You have, like, 1,300 suggestions that went into that plan, so it is definitely meeting the overall desires of the city. And then executing that plan becomes interesting.”

Within the comprehensive plan, there are particular areas Rider feels his background will prove to be beneficial, noting his experience isn’t limited to a single area.

“Even that is kind of broad-reaching in terms of my background in transportation and traffic engineering,” he said of his experience. “So the roads, bridges, and basically the congestion are things I was dealing with in my master’s program, building simulation models to address such issues. So that’s just exciting to me.”

He added that his professional career has centered around addressing safety issues, and whether it’s in residential facilities, communities, or being out in the city, he wants to ensure Delaware remains a safe place.

Rider went on to say, “Three words just keep coming to mind, and they summarize a lot of what I do. Those words are leadership, experience, and justice. I have been confronted with and dealt with contentious situations all my life, and to be able to listen to both sides objectively and evaluate circumstances and make fair, impartial decisions is critical, especially at the council level where it’s representing everybody. I think what I want to do for Delaware is, one, the city has already determined what the city wants, and I have the experience to execute it. And I have broad-reaching appeal to the entire city and think I can represent 100% of the people who live here.”

To learn more about Rider’s campaign, visit www.rider4citycouncil.com.

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.