Photo by Jeffrey S. Hall Photography
No matter what Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher does, she always seems to find herself in a leadership position eventually. As retired CEO of HandsOn Central Ohio, a former Dublin mayor of three terms, former chair of the Dublin Planning & Zoning Commission, Points of Light board member and current board vice chair of Syntero, Chinnici-Zuercher has been invaluable to central Ohio. And that’s only a condensed version of her resume.
“Over the years, I’ve really learned how to run effective meetings,” says Chinnici-Zuercher from the table in her home off of Muirfield Drive. “It’s not unusual for me to move into chair positions because of that.”
Chinnici-Zuercher didn’t move to Dublin until after she and her late husband, Bob Zuercher, married and moved from Columbus. Zuercher, director of the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus, and Chinnici-Zuercher, assistant director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services, decided that because of the public schools, affordable housing and close proximity to Columbus, Dublin would be the best place to settle down.
Immediately, Chinnici-Zuercher, a native of Parma and a graduate of Miami University, got involved in the Dublin community and with volunteer efforts.
“I am a person that, since I was 12, I have been volunteering,” she says. “I believe strongly in community engagement. … I generally have gotten involved both in my work – doing things as a volunteer related to my work to enhance whatever field I was in – and then in the community I really lived in.”
Chinnici-Zuercher first ran for City Council in 1993, but lost to Cathy Boring, who would become Dublin City Council’s longest-serving member. Instead, like many of the Dublin’s elected officials, she got her start with the City on the Planning & Zoning Commission.
“Dublin was not big at all at that time. … If you look at Council over the last few Councils, many came through the board of planning and zoning sort of ladder,” says Chinnici-Zuercher. “That’s where everything happens when you’re building a community.”
During her time with planning and zoning, Dublin was seeing a large amount of growth. The buildings around I-270 were being rezoned; Lamar Hunt himself was attending planning and zoning meetings because he was considering Dublin as a home for what is now Mapfre Stadium. City meetings in Dublin are unlike those of any other community, Chinnici-Zuercher says, because of the vast amounts of community engagement.
Photo courtesy of City of Dublin
Chinnici-Zuercher was a founding mayor with Cities of Service
“By having community planning where several hundred people came and participated in it, we really got to know a lot of people,” says Chinnici-Zuercher. “Those people ultimately were people that were appointed to boards and commissions, because they got so educated and interested.”
After her time with planning and zoning, Chinnici-Zuercher successfully ran for City Council, where she served four terms. In 2004, she was elected mayor by her peers, and was reelected three times, serving a total of six years as mayor. In 2015, after 16 years on City Council, Chinnici-Zuercher retired. She attributes much of her success to the “phenomenal” skills she gained while working at the City.
Another unique piece about the City of Dublin is the unsaid agreement that each of the City Councils uphold past councils’ vision of Dublin, says Chinnici-Zuercher.
“Everybody bought into the value and the vision along the way; and that really speaks well to the people 25, 30 years ago, who understood the importance of establishing that foundation,” she says. “And then saying no. … We always kind of knew – we always felt – that there will be a better opportunity.”
One development that Chinnici-Zuercher worked on during her term as mayor is still wildly successful and popular now, and she says it was her most important project: Miracle League. In fact, the beginnings of the program – now the largest Miracle League in the country – fit perfectly into other developments in the community. The program needed dedicated and specific fields for the athletes to play on, and Dublin had just the spot.
Photo courtesy of City of Dublin
Dublin City Council
Chinnici-Zuercher served as mayor of Dublin for six years.
A large field had been bought and mapped out by planning and zoning, when Chinnici-Zuercher herself was on the commission, to build the Columbus Crew’s home. However, the soccer pitch was relocated to Columbus, and the Dublin space, now Darree Fields, sat empty. Chinnici-Zuercher brought together Dublin Parks and Recreation and Duke Realty Corp., and the trio turned Darree Fields into the home of the Dublin Miracle League.
“It was a tremendous collaborative between the public and the private citizens,” says Chinnici-Zuercher. “For me, that is the highlight of something really special to have orchestrated and facilitated to bring to this community.”
Despite her retirement from HandsOn and the City Council, Chinnici-Zuercher is still largely involved in the City and volunteer efforts in central Ohio. She is an avid reader (“I’ve been known to read at red lights,”), is on the boards of Syntero and the Dublin Arts Council, and is chair of Welcome Warehouse. Her son, Brian, and daughter-in-law, Liz, live close by in Columbus.
“Pretty much everything’s here; why would I want to live anywhere else?” Chinnici-Zuercher says. “I enjoy knowing that, when you walk down the street, you’re going to know people even as this City has grown. It’s a friendly town, it’s a safe town and certainly as a single woman, it feels like a good place to be living.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
