By Alixandria Wells-Good

Contributing writer

MECHANICSBURG – On Jan. 1, Jason Adelsberger began his duties as mayor of the Village of Mechanicsburg. Adelsberger was sworn in at the village council meeting held that day by retiring mayor Greg Kimball.

Adelsberger ran unopposed for mayor in the November 2023 election. His term will be for four years, with the option of running again in the 2027 election.

Adelsberger presided over his first council meeting on Jan. 1, bringing with him a new gavel that was a gift.

Adelsberger grew up in the London area on a farm, not far from Mechanicsburg. Adelsberger began attending church at Mechanicsburg Christian Fellowship around 2000 with his then wife, who was raised in Mechanicsburg. Adelsberger shared: “I like to joke that I’ve been in the ‘old Chet’s’ (grocery store) so that gives me some length of longevity here.”

Adelsberger went on to share that through attending church at MCF he really started connecting with people within the community of Mechanicsburg. During his time at MCF, Jason held different positions such as deacon, elder, and administrative pastor. When it was time for his daughter to begin school, they moved to the village so that she could attend school in Mechanicsburg.

When the Adelsbergers time at MCF came to an end, Jason began to feel pulled to find a different way to connect with the community. He decided to join the village’s planning commission where he spent a couple of years helping with “zoning issues and those sorts of things.” The village’s planning commission is made up of village residents and a council member.

Once a position opened up on the village’s council three years ago, Adelsberger ran and became a council member. Adelsberger stated that he joined the finance committee early on during his time on council, where he said he learned a lot about how government accounting and funds work, as well as levies, taxes, and the grant process. Adelsberger shared that he is excited about the work that was put into the fire department during his last year as a council member, and that they are now planning to hire two new full-time EMTs.

When former mayor Kimball decided that it was time to step down and move away from his position with the village, Adelsberger felt that he would be a good fit for mayor, that it “fit (his) skill set.”

Adelsberger holds a full-time job with NetJets, a private aviation company, where he works in human resources learning and development. He says that when considering if he’d be able to juggle his full-time job and being mayor, it really came down to the people that he will work with in the village. His confidence in the people that work to manage the village was what made him know it was possible.

Adelsberger said: “I don’t think I would’ve run if I couldn’t have looked at the room and the people around me and gone ‘OK, I wanna work with these people.’”

While mayor of Mechanicsburg, Adelsberger hopes to be able to “tell the story better.” He shared that he has created a Facebook page for the village, hoping to use it to reach even more people in the village with important information. Eventually, he would like to create some kind of data base for residents to access information on village ordinances, etc.

Questions, comments and concerns for the mayor or village council can be shared at village council meetings which are held on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the municipal building located at 18 North Main Street.

Reach the writer at [email protected]