New City Manager

So Luke, you are an advocate for more section 8? Unbelievable! You forwarded a copy of the section 8 analysis to a liberal college professor of public administration and his response was.........Shocking!!! we need more section 8?  Yes. that's what we need. more people in the cart as opposed to those who are pulling the cart. That is exactly how to revitalizea downtown and attract more people to our town. Keep it up! It has worked well so far.

Stanky, you are typical of the negativism on this website. We made an offer to a well intentioned/qualified man and all you people can do is complain!!! Give people a chance!!! Doug/council have a plan. Give  them time. Please reserve judgement.  In a few years you can judge the results of their plan. Just 1opinion. 

His "move" to Middletown will likely consist of renting one of the plentiful $400 per month hovels this town has to offer. Establish utilities in his name as proof of his residency. Followed by driving back to see his kid's soccer game for Mason High.

Those bright things you see are the lights in the HUD interrogation room which will be Dougies first stop.

Innovator?

No, he needed a life raft with council on HUD war.

Loose lips sink ships.

Middletown has sunk.

I say "Thank goodness I don't live there anymore"-there is naught but anguish and ruin ahead for thee...

Council selects Adkins as next city manager

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
Doug Adkins, director of community revitalization for the city since 2009, will be named Middletown’s city manager, the Journal-News has learned.

Adkins was one of the five finalists from the 29 who applied to replace Judy Gilleland, who’s retiring next month after six years as city manager.

Adkins was offered the position by members of City Council after they met in executive session following Tuesday’s council meeting. Adkins accepted their offer, according to city emails, but Middletown Mayor Lawrence Mulligan Jr. said the city doesn’t have a signed contract.

Adkins, who has no city manager experience, will be paid $115,000 a year, $12,000 less than Gilleland earns, according to a draft of the employment agreement. Gilleland’s last day as city manager is June 6, however, because of vacation time she accumulated, she will be in the city payroll through July 21, according to emails.

Adkins will serve as interim city manager from June 7 until July 21, then city manager the following day. He will be given a $450-a-month car allowance and will be reimbursed $10,000 to move his family from Mason to Middletown, according to the proposed contract.

During the public portion of the interview Saturday morning, Adkins said he’d live in the city and remain here for years.

“If I’m in, I’m in,” he said. “I’m here to stay.”

Last weekend, all five candidates toured the city, then were interviewed by city staff, community leaders and Middletown residents at the City Building. Council took input from those interviews to help make their decision, they said.

Mulligan Jr. said the city was fortunate to have five “well-qualified” candidates.

Adkins separated himself from the others because of his “successful track record” of working collaboratively with community leaders throughout the region, Mulligan said.

Council member Dan Picard said he was impressed by what he called Adkins’ “forward thinking.” He presented council with a 120-page outline filled with goals, and every goal had a deadline.

“He’s looking down the road, giving us something to shoot for,” Picard said Thursday morning.

After the interviews Saturday, Picard said council received feedback from those who participated in the process, and council agreed on two finalists: Adkins and Jane Howington, city manager in Newport, R.I., who also worked as city manager in Oxford and assistant city manager in Dayton. Then on Tuesday night, after about 30 minutes in executive session, Picard said Adkins became council’s No. 1 choice.

Council member Anita Scott Jones said after reviewing the responses from the three groups that participated in the interviews, Adkins’ name appeared at the top of all their recommendations.

“He was constant,” she said.

Jones said over the weekend, she heard from many Middletown residents who offered opinions. Some said the city should hire an internal candidate, others said an outside candidate, and others wanted someone with at least 10 years of city manager experience. In the end, she said, since Adkins has worked for the city for nine years, he became the obvious choice.

Dora Bronston, another council member, praised Adkins for his “vision” that will “move the city forward.”

At the end of Tuesday’s executive session, Bronston told the other council members she wanted them to be “united” in selecting Adkins.

Don Vermillion, director of public projects at the Fitz Center at the University of Dayton, was paid $12,000 by the city to conduct the city manager search. The job was posted with the International City/County Management Association, Ohio City Management and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, he said.

In emails to council members, Vermillion wrote he had contacted the other four candidates to let them know they weren’t selected.

The other finalists: Les Landen, the city’s law director, and three external candidates, Cathy Davison, former city manager in Steubenville, Ohio; Willie Norfleet Jr., city manager in Socorro, Texas and Howington.

In his interview, when asked how he’d react if he wasn’t selected, Landen, the law director for 14 years, said he’d be “a good soldier” and continue serving the city as best he could.

Adkins began his service with Middletown in 2005 as assistant prosecutor. In 2006, he was promoted to prosecutor, then three years later, was named director of community revitalization, overseeing community development, building inspection, code enforcement, planning, zoning, bus transit system, the Robert “Sonny” Hill Jr. Community Center and Weatherwax Golf Course.

Earlier this year, Adkins, who served on council and as vice-mayor in Vandalia, was a finalist for the city manager’s position there.

He earned his bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Cincinnati and graduated cum laude with a juris doctor from the University of Dayton.



Name: Doug Adkins

Job: Director of community revitalization

Residence: Mason

Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Cincinnati, 1985; Juris doctor, University of Dayton, 2003

Family: Wife, Becky and six children