Glass City Jungle

Both of these releases came in today while I was at work, so since they are on a similar topic, I’m including them in the order they were received, first, the announcement of Executive Staff for the new Administration, then the first round of appointments to the Citizens Special Investigation (CSI) task force was announced:

Bell Announces Executive Staff For New Administration

Following through on an early campaign promise, Mike Bell today announced his appointment for the Deputy Mayor for External Affairs – a position throughout the campaign referred to as the “Business Advocate.”

Mr. Bell has appointed Dean Monske to fill the role as Deputy Mayor for External Affairs. In his new role, Monske will be responsible for coordinating the City of Toledo’s economic development efforts, including acting as a liaison to regional economic development agencies, working with Toledo’s suburban neighbors and serving as a link for businesses looking to locate or expand in Toledo.

Mr. Monske currently serves as Vice President with The Regional Growth Partnership, one of Northwest Ohio’s lead economic development agencies. His responsibilities at The RGP include engaging investors in the business community, working with regional partners from both the private and public sector responsible for business retention and expansion and serving as a face to face contact across the country promoting Northwest Ohio. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Oregon Economic Development Foundation and worked with Toledo Edison/First Energy in their Industrial commercial Accounts.

“Dean brings a collaborative perspective to this position that the City of Toledo has been missing for some time,” Mayor-Elect Bell said. “He has a strong record of working with regional partners to achieve success in business development and retention. It will be a challenging but important job, and I have every faith that he will be ready to go on January 4th.”

The Mayor-Elect also announced his appointments for Safety Director, Deputy Mayor for Operations and Public Information Officer.

Shirley Green will serve as Safety Director. Green is a 26 year veteran of the Toledo Police Department and retired as a lieutenant. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate in History at Bowling Green State University.

Steve Herwat will serve as Deputy Mayor for Operations. Herwat currently serves as the Transition Director for Mayor-Elect Bell. As Deputy Mayor he will serve as Chief of Staff, liaise with City Council and address internal City matters. Herwat previously served as Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissioner and Interim Vice-President for Transportation at TMACOG.

Jen Sorgenfrei will serve as Public Information Officer. Sorgenfrei currently works at FLS Marketing. She previously worked in the Ohio House of Representatives in the offices of Jeanine Perry and Peter Ujvagi and as Public Information Officer for the Lucas County Mental Health Board.

Mr. Bell was elected Mayor with 52.3 percent of the vote total. He ran as an Independent in his first bid for elective office. Toledo’s former fire chief and former State Fire Marshal, he received his education in the Toledo Public Schools and the University of Toledo. He will take office on January 4, 2010.

Bell Names Financial CSI Task Force

Mayor-Elect Michael P. Bell this afternoon announced the first round of appointments to his Citizens Special Investigation (CSI) task force. During Bell’s campaign he committed to appointing a citizen based group to conduct a 45-day study of the City’s finances and generate the solid data needed to give the Mayor, council, administrators and employees the ability to work out solid cost-cutting solutions in real time and to operate at a new level of trust.

The CSI will be made of up senior-level leaders from accounting, banking, business and labor, including leaders of the City’s bargaining units. Members include:

John Alexander, Administrator, City of Perrysburg
Deborah Barnett, Huntington Bank
Brandon Cohen, University of Toledo College of Business Administration
Don Czerniak, AFSCME Local 7
Dan Frick, Retired, Managing Partner of Ernst & Young
Roosevelt Gant, R Gant LLC
Rick Gray, Key Bank
Jim Martin, Firefighters Local 92
George Sarantou, Finance Committee Chair, Toledo City Council
Don Saunders, Retired, City of Toledo Finance Director
Dan Wagner, Toledo Police Patrolmen’s Association

The task force will rely on a forensic accounting model to provide a data-driven analysis of income and expenses, pension and benefit liabilities and overtime costs.

The Mayor-Elect pledged to appoint the team on his first day on the job, however given the growing anticipated deficit would like them to be able to start their work sooner. Further appointments to the task force will be forthcoming.

“These professionals have committed to an intense job, but I’m hopeful that the work they do will set the foundation for long-term financial planning for our City,” the Mayor-Elect said.

“Now is the time to identify our growth opportunities and our wasteful behaviors in order to maximize our productivity and assets.”

Mr. Bell was elected Mayor with 52.3 percent of the vote total. He ran as an Independent in his first bid for elective office. Toledo’s former fire chief and former State Fire Marshal, he received his education in the Toledo Public Schools and the University of Toledo