Posted: 3:03 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Adkins: ‘Many critical issues’ face city

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — Earlier this year, Doug Adkins, who has served as the city’s community revitalization manager since 2009, was a finalist for the city manager position in Vandalia, where he once was a council member and vice mayor.

    He wasn’t offered that job, but now he’s a finalist for the city manager job in Middletown.

    While Adkins said unemployment is down in the city, abandoned and blighted homes are being demolished, employers are investing millions of dollars, and several businesses and educational entities are operating downtown — all “good things going on in the city” — he said there are still “many critical issues” that need to be resolved.

    Among them, he said, the city’s public safety system is “unsustainable,” and it must be “completely reimagined” to reflect today’s problems, today’s work force and today’s revenues. He said the city must “effectively respond” to public safety issues with the tax dollars available.

    Also, he said, the city needs to established “a well-defined economic development plan.” He described Middletown as an older, effectively landlocked city that must carefully review its options. That includes filling vacant industrial land with job opportunities, and the redevelopment of existing vacant buildings for today’s business requirements, he said.

    Another important aspect for the city will be the development of the city’s East End, near I-75 and Atrium Medical Center, he said.

    “If we develop poorly, we are stuck with those structures for the next 50 years or so,” he said. “We should take our time and ensure that we are smart in our development standards without stifling opportunities.”

    The city, he said, must continue to focus on redeveloping its work force to be properly educated and skilled to work in 21st century jobs. He said Middletown should rely on its “impressive array of educational institutions” to train tomorrow’s work force.

    In 2009, to address the immediate housing crisis, the city built a five-year plan that attempted to stabilize “at risk” neighborhoods by improving code enforcement and demolishing blighted housing, Adkins said.

    This year, he said, the city will draft a new five-year plan, and it’s “critical” the city finish the neighborhoods that have been started and circle back and extensively work on the deteriorated neighborhoods over the next five years.

    He said the city’s vacant retail property cannot thrive until there are people reoccupying vacant housing, people moving to the city and building new construction homes, and people utilizing the new housing coming to downtown over the next several years.

    The other four finalists are: Cathy Davison, former city manager, Steubenville, Ohio; Les Landen, Middletown law director; Jane Howington, city manager, Newport, R.I.; and Willie Norfleet, city manager, Socorro, Texas.

    City manager Judy Gilleland announced her retirement earlier this year and her last day is set for June 6, though she may stay longer to make the transition easier. The city received 29 applicants for the position and the field was narrowed to five, said Noah Powers, the city’s human resource manager. All five candidates will participate in interviews Friday and Saturday with members of the community and City Council.

The public portion of the forum will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the City Council chambers in the basement of the City Building.

UNMATCHED COVERAGE

All this week the Journal-News is profiling the five candidates for the city manager position. Here are the days those profiles will appear in the newspaper and online:

TUESDAY: Cathy Davison

TODAY: Doug Adkins

THURSDAY: Jane Howington

FRIDAY: Les Landen

SATURDAY: Willie Norfleet

 

"Earlier this year, Doug Adkins, who has served as the city’s community revitalization manager since 2009, was a finalist for the city manager position in Vandalia, where he once was a council member and vice mayor.
    He wasn’t offered that job,"

ONE OF "VANDALIA'S OWN" BUT WASN'T OFFERED THE JOB. THAT COULD MEAN THAT THEY FOUND SOMEONE MORE QUALIFIED, OR IT COULD MEAN THEY SAW HIM IN THE COUNCIL AND VICE MAYOR ROLES, DIDN'T LIKE HOW HE OPERATED, AND, PERHAPS, HOPED THAT HE WOULD LEAVE TOWN. (DITTO ON THE LEAVING TOWN THING ADKINS)

"While Adkins said unemployment is down in the city"....

UNEMPLOYMENT IS DOWN AND, LIKE THE NATIONAL SCENE, THERE ARE STILL THOUSANDS UNEMPLOYED BUT ARE NO LONGER COUNTED AS THEY HAVE GIVEN UP LOOKING FOR MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT. THE NUMBERS REPORTED NEVER PAINT THE TRUE PICTURE, HERE OR ON THE EVENING NEWS.

"employers are investing millions of dollars"

OCCASIONAL HIT AND MISS INVESTING. IT ISN'T LIKE THE MONEY IS FLOWING IN ABUNDANCE.

"several businesses and educational entities are operating downtown"

CINCY STATE IS ON STAGNATION STATUS WITH NO EYE-OPENING GROWTH AS WAS ONCE THOUGHT. BUSINESSES GO OUT AS QUICKLY AS THEY START UP DOWNTOWN...I SEE A STALEMATE SITUATION IN THE "LAND OF PLENTY" DOWNTOWN.
ANOTHER CITY OFFICIAL WHO IS SEEING SOMETHING THAT ISN'T REALLY THERE.

"the city’s public safety system is “unsustainable,” and it must be “completely reimagined” to reflect today’s problems"

WELL DOUGGIE, YOUR PALS AT CITY HALL FANNED THE FLAMES AND BROUGHT THE LOW LIFE CRIME AND RESIDUAL DRUGGIES TO TOWN IN NUMBERS, STRAINING THE POLICE AND FIRE DEPTS. YOU CREATED THE MESS. NOW, YOU AND YOUR BUDS WANT TO COMPLAIN THAT IT'S A STRAIN ON SERVICES.

"he said, the city needs to established “a well-defined economic development plan.” He described Middletown as an older, effectively landlocked city that must carefully review its options. That includes filling vacant industrial land with job opportunities, and the redevelopment of existing vacant buildings for today’s business requirements,"

AK STARTED GOING DOWN THE TOILET THREE DECADES AGO. THE PAPER INDUSTRY LEFT DECADES AGO. ALL MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT LEFT DECADES AGO......AND THIS AND PAST CITY ADMINISTRATIONS SAT ON THEIR HANDS AND DID NOTHING OTHER THAN TO BRING CASHIER/SERVICE INDUSTRY LOW WAGE/NO OPPORTUNITY JOBS HERE TO REPLACE THEM. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR A (ANY) CITY ADMIN. TO "ESTABLISH A WELL-DEFINED ECONOMIC DEVELOPEMENT PLAN"? DECADES, AND MANY CITY ECON PEOPLE LATER, IT STILL HASN'T BEEN DONE. WHY NOT?

“If we develop poorly, we are stuck with those structures for the next 50 years or so,” he said. “We should take our time and ensure that we are smart in our development standards without stifling opportunities.”

OH, YOU ALL ARE TAKING YOUR TIME ALRIGHT....NOTHING WORTHWHILE FOR DECADES. YOU ALL DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEVELOP. NO ONE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT THIS TOWN NEEDS, TARGET THOSE NEEDS AND PURSUE A SUCCESSFUL END TO THOSE NEEDS. GAMEPLANS OVER THE YEARS....ALL TALK, NO ACTION. JUST CITIZEN PASSIFICATION GIVING FALSE HOPE.

In 2009, to address the immediate housing crisis, the city built a five-year plan that attempted to stabilize “at risk” neighborhoods by improving code enforcement and demolishing blighted housing, Adkins said

YOU WON'T GET STABILIZED NEIGHBORHOODS WITH A TRANSIENT SITUATION. THE CITY HAS TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON SOCIAL PROGRAMS AND HOUSING. THEY WILL MOVE WHERE THE NEXT HANDOUT WILL BE IF THE MIDDLETOWN HANDOUT DRIES UP. THE HOUSING IS PRIMARILY IN THESE "AT RISK" NEIGHBORHOODS THAT YOU WANT TO STABILIZE. THE PEOPLE WHO WANT A BETTER LIFE AND ARE STABLE WANT OUT OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS. YOU CAN ENFORCE THE CODES AND KNOCK DOWN ALL THE HOUSES YOU WANT, BUT YOU STILL HAVE DRUGS AND INCREASED CRIME IN THESE AREAS. IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD IF YOU IMPROVE THE LANDSCAPE IF YOU RETAIN THE SAME TYPE OF PEOPLE WHEN YOU'RE DONE. KEEPING THE GOOD PEOPLE AND CREATING BETTER CLIENTELE CONSISTING OF PEOPLE WHO CARE WILL CHANGE THINGS.

"He said the city’s vacant retail property cannot thrive until there are people (WHO CARE) reoccupying vacant housing"

"people (WHO CARE) moving to the city and building new construction homes, and people (WHO CARE) utilizing the new housing coming to downtown over the next several years"

IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO ATTRACT DECENT PEOPLE TO THIS CITY IF YOU CONTINUALLY PUT OUT THE WELCOME MAT FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT HANDOUTS, WON'T WORK, DON'T CARE ABOUT THEIR PROPERTY OR THEMSELVES AND STRIVE FOR THE LOWEST RUNG ON THE LADDER.

MORE OF THE SAME FROM ADKINS. HE IS NOT A GOOD CHOICE TO RUN THIS CITY. FOCUS IS TOO NARROW IN NATURE.

Neither Messers Adkins or Landen have budget experienece greater than a few hundred thousand to a few $ Mm.

Neither have span of control experience greater than 2-5 employees.

Neither have turned a city or entity around.

Neither are innovators.

Neither are known for collaboration building.

Neither would be a finalist in a city manager outside Middletown or another city they were born, or resided, in my opinion.

I see a weak field for what Middletown needs.

Drop the city manager search, and hire a full time Mayor who is a rainmaker and an image creator.

Oversight and budget cutting is the easiest task in the world.

Building and growing is the most difficult.

Hire smart.   

500 block of Waite Street............not 400 block.

Not always on elected....in larger cities, or mid size, around 50,000, a Mayor is full-time, and is very aggressive in partnership building, bringing in new business, and brand/ image creation.

Middletown doesn't need a city manager....or if so, it should be a blend of an administrator and economic development executive. That is the role a Mayor plays in a city which is full-time.

Middletown relies too heavily on city council members for show, that meet twice a month, get little income, and generally use the position for their own whims and publicity. Its highly ineffective.

They are figureheads that really have limited to no impact, and because they meet only twice a month, its a concept more suited for a small village, a Waynesville, Morrow, not a city of 50,000.

A city manager usually grew up in progression, served as an assistant city manager, no span of control, no direct oversight, filling in when the city manager was on vacation. Ms. Gilleland had about 3 years of total city manager experience before she was hired in Middletown.

A full-time Mayor is flamboyant, driven, and generally serves as a catalyst.  

The last attribute Middletown needs is an oversight manager. It needs a turbo charged rainmaker, who drives results, brings in business and residents. That hasn't existed in over two generations in my opinion.
 

You have to remember our city doesn't have the money we are going broke they tell us, but find money somewhere when it suits them.

Acclaro,
If you want someone who is "flamboyant, driven, and generally serves as a catalyst" Rob Ford from Toronto is probably available. He is all those things and more! Plus he has Mayor experience!

In all seriousness, Doug Akins' answers to the questions sound like answers a manager would give. I agree with Cohen and Paul Nagy that we don't need a manager...we need a rainmaker and a leader. We don't need to just get more efficient, we need a different approach. We also need someone to make wholesale changes at city hall and an "inside" person typically won't do that because these are the people he's worked with for years.

    Also, he said, the city needs to established “a well-defined economic development plan.” He described Middletown as an older, effectively landlocked city that must carefully review its options. That includes filling vacant industrial land with job opportunities, and the redevelopment of existing vacant buildings for today’s business requirements, he said.
I thought we had a well defined 5 years plan..and how has that worked out for us?
I can tell you it has been an absolute disaster. You received 1.45 million dollars in assets for a little over $500,000 and you haven’t even been able to break even on the deals. City property with a value of over $5,000 was not placed up for bid as required by law but was given away. Property all over the City needs to be placed in the hands of local real estate agents to sell to replenish the coffers.
And now Mr. Adkins we are going to discuss your action concerning the Bank One Deal. This alone disqualify you from becoming the next City Manager. I and Mr. William Barntiz Oglesby, grandson of man that built this bank contacted your office on numerous occasions ov er the past several years about purchasing this bank building. You told us both that the bank building was NOT FOR SALE because of the current lease with Miami University. You stated you would contact us if or when the property became available. Neither of us was contacted by your office. And then suddenly one day a man walks into your office and offers you $135,000 for this property and YOU decide to accept the offer. A property that you had not had an appraisal on, therefore you had no knowledge of its true value, a property that was earning $69,000 a year in income with a 5 year lease in place. A property that had just received $48,000 worth of upgrades.
You then decided to put the deal before City Council…as emergency legislation, …using Landen Law, that’s the law that you can make up as ya go along…that you did not know the true value of…and sell it at a bargain basement price.
And then you stood before council and stated you had not received any other bids on this property…when in fact you had received two higher bids from Mr. Robinett.
Mr. Adkins, in all of my 72 years, I have never witnessed such unprofessional, unethical behavior and such blatant disregard for the rule of law, in a city meeting. as I did that evening.
These are NOT the qualities that I want in a City Manager, nor in the current position that you now hold. 

acclaro wrote: This may be the type of hybrid Ken Cohen was referring, what I call an X Boxer, thinker out of the box. Heavy economic background combined with leadership, and financial acumen. I see outsourcing, smart-sourcing playing a critical role going forward. That may have been Mr. Adkins reference to "re-imagining" future roles, contract employees, outsourcing functionality.

So you'd prefer someone with a background as a CEO? 

Vivian Moon wrote: Posted: 3:03 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2014 Adkins: ‘Many critical issues’ face city By Rick McCrabb Staff Writer     MIDDLETOWN — ... Doug Adkins .. said there are still “many critical issues” that need to be resolved.     Among them, he said, the city’s public safety system is “unsustainable,” and it must be “completely reimagined” ...

"Reimagined"???  "REIMAGINED"???  "REIMAGINED"???

Imagine this Dougie: You are in a fine looking Jaguar(not unlike one Judy owns) waving to crowds of people lining the streets of Middletown. You can see their happy faces as they have gather here for just one thing. That is to watch you ride out of town, back to Mason never to return to Middletown!! Oh darn is that the alarm ringing?

It looks like the lady from Oxford is the most qualified for the job here in Middletown. She has faced "turn-around" situations in other cities. She doesn't seem to be afraid to speck up if it doesn't look right.

She is strongest of 5, if they stick to 5.

More seasoned to play "bad cop" on reductions and restructuring. Allows council to play good cop.

No baggage, current city sings her praises. Passed on other offer closer to son; she probably has it.

Concerns; sun-setting, returning where she began, retire, JG no. 2.

Is it worth hiring her to make cuts, or pass levies?

Do a 3 year deal with a private sector individual, $500,000. for period.