Aaron Leighty is ready to roll up his sleeves get busy serving New Carlisle residents as the city’s newly-minted city councilman. Leighty was unanimously appointed to fill the city council seat on Jan. 23. The seat was vacated by Lowell McGlothin, who recently resigned his position to serve as Clark County Commissioner.
Leighty may be new to the city council, but he is already a familiar face in the New Carlisle area.
Leighty grew up on his family’s farm on Liberty Road in the outskirts of New Carlisle. As a farm-boy he attended Tecumseh local schools and was active in 4-H, FFA, and showed animals at the Clark County Fair.
Before graduating from Tecumseh High School in 2004, Leighty served as Vice-President of the Tecumseh Student Council for four years, played football for the Arrows, participated in the theater department, and earned his State FFA degree.
While Leighty was in high school, his family ran the largest poultry processing plant in the state of Ohio from 2000-2007. Leighty says the job he was assigned to help keep it running was not for the faint of heart, or for vegetarians.
“I had to wake up every morning and go out and kill chickens...So before I even went to football practice I had already been up killing chickens for processing.” Later, Leighty co-owned Leighty Bros. Meats in New Carlisle from 2007-2009 before the business was sold so the brothers could pursue other interests.
Today, Leighty is serving his sixth year in the Air Force Reserves, where he works as a Surgical Assistant. He also works as an Orthopedic Surgical Representative specializing in sports surgery.
Leighty eventually married his sweetheart, Stacey, and moved to the city of New Carlisle. The couple has three sons, ages 3 years, 18 months, and 2 weeks.
As a new councilman and young father, Leighty says he believes New Carlisle is “headed in the right direction.” He and his wife love the small-town feel of the community and look forward to raising their children in the city. As the youngest member of the city council, Leighty plans to work and find ways to make the city attractive to other young families as well
The freshman councilman comments, too, that his “deep regard” for first responders and a “commitment to public safety” will spur him to work towards making sure New Carlisle is as safe as possible for its residents. Especially in light of the heroin epidemic that has gripped the city in recent years.
“There have been so many overdoses in the community. It’s a real tragedy...One of the ways we can end the problem is by making sure our (first responders) get all of the support and resources they need to fight it. I also want to work to make sure other safety concerns that come up in the city are addressed and taken care of.”
All in all, Leighty is excited about the work and challenges that lie ahead of him as the newest member of the New Carlisle City Council.
“I’m thrilled,” says Leighty. “It’s an honor to serve the community.”