BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE - When Diane Ewing Whalen's husband was offered a promotion several years ago at Borden's corporate headquarters in Columbus, the couple looked at schools and homes there.
"There just wasn't enough monetary compensation," Mrs. Whalen said. But more important, she said, Florence "is comfort, this is where the heart is for both of us." So they stayed put.
Now, in early January, she'll become mayor of the city where her heart - and family - stayed. On Nov. 3, voters elected her to the top post in the city of 23,000.
"I think it gives me an opportunity to give back to the city. I grew up watching a family (involved in) community service," said the Florence native. "I never thought I'd find myself in this kind of a position. Probably, if you would have asked me 15 years ago, I would have said, 'No way.' "
But how could she not have any trace of politics in her blood when her father, C.M. "Hop" Ewing, was mayor of Florence for two decades? "There was never any push to do it. Basically, when I said I was going to run for council, he asked me if I had lost my mind. And then when I said I'm going to go ahead and file papers for mayor, he said, 'Haven't I taught you anything?'
"He has. He taught me too well. He taught me that community is important and people are important, and doing what's right is important," said the 43-year-old mother of two.
Her father has full confidence in her ability.
"She knows what she's doing. She's good with people. Diane's her own person. If she asks me for advice, I'll help her. I hope she's got a little of her daddy's temper - but not too much of it.
Mrs. Whalen said her eight-year stint in the communications department at the Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky International Airport, where she gave tours for students and made a lot of contacts, "pretty much started the fire" for politics.
So she ran for city council two years ago and topped the ballot, which made her vice mayor. After two years on council, she thought the timing was right to fulfill higher aspirations.
"With (Mayor) Evelyn (Kalb) retiring, it was kind of a natural step to take. You don't want to ever face off against a popular incumbent when the job's being done and things are running the way people like them to be run.
"But with her encouragement and my father's words of worrying, I dove in," she said.
"Somebody said something about 'you put Ewing in your name. What is that all about? You're feeding off of that.' I said, 'Well, the first 21 years of my life, everybody that I came in contact with knew me as Diane Ewing. And a lot of those people are still around. The (people) I went to high school with would not know who Diane Whalen is. And I want them to know who I am.'
"It really was more of an identity thing as opposed to a coattail thing. I am who I am, and part of who I am is Diane Ewing," said Mrs. Whalen, who will make $10,760 annually during her four-year term.
'Mayor's Night in'
She said her greatest weaknesses is that she gets emotionally involved. "I guess maybe it becomes personal when it shouldn't. So I guess I need a thicker skin. I've tried to work on that," said the mayor-elect. But she says what matters most is that she be fair and consistent. As a hands-on mayor, she wants to establish a "Mayor's Night In" - similar to that in Cincinnati - to improve communications with residents. "I'm more of an analytical thinker than a creative thinker."
"I think she's a very conscientious person," said three-year Councilwoman Linda Schaffer. "She's going to apply her best effort to the task that comes before her.
