Ben Baker is currently serving in his first term as Dayton Mayor, having previously served two consecutive terms as City Councilman. During both terms, he served on the Bellevue Dayton Fire Board. Before being elected to the City Council, Mayor Baker served on both the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission as well as its Main Street Board.
Mayor Baker studied telecommunications at both the University of Kentucky as well as Northern Kentucky University. Upon completion of his studies, Mayor Baker joined a technology start-up in Cincinnati in 2004 and has worked in the technology-infrastructure industry since that time. A strong proponent of Northern Kentucky businesses, Mayor Baker is a member of both the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce as well as the Covington Business Council.
In 2010, Mayor Baker relocated from Covington into a historic home on Sixth Avenue in Dayton, where he lives with his wife, Julie Stewart. Dayton offers many features and amenities the couple desired in a hometown, such as family-owned restaurants, a walkable, safe community, and an excellent school system. Mayor Baker is an avid Reds and Bengals fan, a music lover, and a frequent traveler, having visited more than a dozen foreign countries.
Christina Kelly became a member of the Dayton City Council in January 2021 after serving as a volunteer and officer on the City’s Board of Architectural Review and Main Street Board. Kelly, an archaeologist, is the Cultural Resources Program Manager for Environment and Archaeology in Florence, Ky.
She also has held archaeological positions with Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. and Gray & Pape, Inc. in Cincinnati and the Chambers Group in Reno, Nev. She has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Northern Kentucky University and a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Montana. Christina enjoys gardening and can often be seen walking her dog around the city.
Jessie Lovins was born and raised in Dayton, graduating from Dayton High School in 2000. She is serving her first term on Dayton City Council after being appointed to the board on March 2, 2021, to fill the unexpired term of a council person who resigned.
Before joining City Council, Lovins was an active member of the Civic Activities Board, including serving as its president, and she continues to be active in city activities and events.
She is Vice President of the Parent-Teacher Committee at Lincoln Elementary School and her 14-year-old daughter attends Dayton Middle School. She has worked for 16 years at Meritor Inc. in Florence, Ky in the finance department.
Joe Neary has served three consecutive terms on Dayton City Council. Prior to being elected to City Council, he served as Chair of the Dayton Main Street Board and Civic Club, and as a member of the city’s Board of Adjustment and Board of Architectural Review. He also served on the Dayton Independent School District Community Advisory Committee and the St. Francis of Assisi Cemetery Preservation Group.
Neary serves on the governing Board for our Fire Department Bellevue-Dayton and as the PA Announcer for the boys’ football and basketball teams at Dayton High School. He also is a regular volunteer for community events and activities.
Joe Neary, who recently retired as an industrial automation sales engineer, moved to Northern Kentucky in 1985. He and his wife, Dee, have been residents of the City of Dayton since 2006.
Beth Nyman was elected in 2020 and is currently serving her first term on Dayton City Council.
Beth and her husband, Doug Sovonick, have lived in Dayton since 2013. Before being elected to the City Council, Beth was the chair of the Dayton Main Street Board and volunteered for many Dayton events and activities. She and her husband also worked together to design the official seal of the City of Dayton and promotional materials for Dayton.
Beth is currently a freelance artist. She formerly worked as an account manager at Deskey, a branding firm in downtown Cincinnati.
Jeff Volter, a retired educator, is a lifelong resident of the City Dayton who has served the Dayton City Council since 2017.
Prior to his election to City Council and after his retirement from the Dayton Independent School District, Volter served for 12 years as a member of the Dayton school board. He served as Principal at Dayton High School from 1995 to 1999 and Principal at the Junior High School from 1987 to 1994.
After his retirement from Dayton public schools, Volter became Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Covington Independent Public Schools under the administration of Superintendent Jack Moreland, the former school superintendent in Dayton. He currently provides educator training and consulting services to Kentucky public school districts.
Volter and his wife, Cathy, a former member of the Dayton City Council, live in the Riverpointe Condominiums off of Dayton Pike.