McConnelsville — Mayor John Finley has worked tirelessly to ensure residents of the village of McConnelsville have everything they need — including a beautiful main street, infrastructure improvements and a sense of community.

Tucked inside the heart of Morgan County, Finley considers McConnelsville's largest attraction to be its vibrant sense of community and the quaint atmosphere that encapsulates the village. From the variety of locally-owned businesses, hardware stores and mom-and-pop shops that line Main Street to McConnells Island and the Morgan County Historical Society, the village is awash with something for everyone.

“We have a beautiful downtown, a very vibrant community, a lot of businesses, and a lot of our small businesses are very special. They work hard to have a nice storefront offering to the people that would be their constituents,” Finley said. “Main streets are boarded up and going away and we're very fortunate that we have a vibrant Main Street that is still beautiful and is still welcoming to people.”

Born and raised in McConnelsville, Finley was surrounded by family deeply invested in their community. He said his father was mayor of the village for nearly 30 years, and he’s tried to model his own leadership after witnessing his father’s dedication to the village.

“One of the things that helped me to become mayor was (that) my father was mayor for almost 30 years,” he said. “I grew up with that around the dinner table, and I helped my father do special tasks around the village when I was a young guy.”

Finley has served as McConnelsville’s mayor for over a decade and is a part of several organizations including First National Bank, Mayors Association of Ohio, Ohio Fire Council and Chief of the Malta and McConnelsville Fire Department.

He joined the Mayors’ Partnership for Progress in 2012 after wanting to broaden his knowledge and experience with local government. Before his mayoral candidacy, he often attended McConnelsville village council meetings to keep up with current events and was eventually appointed to serve on the council.

As the village continues to evolve, Finley has big plans in store for the future of McConnelsville. He’s working on elevating the village’s tourism sector, improving local infrastructure and continuing to work with safety services, like the area’s police and fire departments.

“Our big plans are continuing to develop our tourism beyond our downtown and continuing to improve the village infrastructure,” he said. “We continuously work on water and sewer improvements, because our water and sewer infrastructure is very old. I have continued to work with the police department, which is near and dear to my heart.”