BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- For seven months, it seemed as if Hurricane Lebanon had settled over the city, unwilling to relent.
Council members bashed one another publicly and privately. Lightning-rod issues such as a $5 million telecommunications project and City Manager Richard Hayward's job performance guided meetings and drove media coverage. Through recall or resignation, the council lost three members.
The problems, it seemed, never would clear.
But city officials and residents say the stormy relations have ended. With appointments made and council up to full strength with seven members, the tenor of Lebanon government has morphed from angry, divisive mistrust to an uneasy but growing solidarity.
Council members are talking to one another, and a majority even stood together to protest the proposed Markey Road development they thought would have too many houses. Despite pressure from the developer, council members held their ground, denying a request to build 69 homes on smaller lots than zoning laws generally allow. They even want to go on a retreat together to brainstorm on citywide goals.
"I think we're about ready to call this a new dawning," said Councilman John McComb, who replaced Mary-Ann Cole after she was recalled in May. "There aren't coalitions. There aren't conspiracies under every rock. We can trust each other because we want to do what's best for this community."
This new attitude on council translates into more effective governing for Lebanon residents, Mr. Hayward said.
"Citizens have already benefited just by not having the circus," he said.
Bombarded by rapid development and suburban flight from Cincinnati and Dayton, Lebanon needs a council to direct its future, residents have said. The city, which serves as the seat in the second-fastest-growing county in the state, has seen its population increase by 31 percent since 1990 -- from 10,453 to an estimated 13,700 this year.
This council, with its three new members, intends to develop a compass for city staff in the form of a master plan that addresses growth, infrastructure and staffing. Council asked Mr. Hayward last week to check with consulting companies for prices on holding a weekend goal-setting and brainstorming retreat. They hope to hold such an event within two months.
"I think we'll all be really surprised how similar our goals are," said new Councilman Joe McKenzie, who was appointed in June to serve the three years left on Mike Coyan's term.
Top issues include keeping the historical flavor of Lebanon and maintaining a mix of new and old residents, he said.
New attitudes
The current council views its job as setting a vision, Mr. Hayward said. While the former council tended to be more project-oriented, this council takes a more holistic view, deciding how it wants the city to shape up and then determining which projects will achieve that goal, he said.
The members are trying to be more professional and courteous during meetings. They don't want their squabbles on the front page or to become fodder for coffee-shop talk, they said. And the four-hour meetings that have been the status quo in the last six months may fall to stricter meeting rules.
"On the surface of things they seem to get along better," business owner Joan Townsend said.
While Ms. Townsend supports a goal-setting retreat for council, she doesn't think the group has solved all of its infighting problems.
All three new members, Mr. McComb, Mr. McKenzie and Jim Reinhard, served on council in the 1980s, lessening the slope of the learning curve.
While new council members bring new enthusiasm to the board, University of Dayton political expert Peter Nelson added a word of caution.
"It would be easy to jump on the bandwagon . . . and say, "Put me back in office and we'll return to the days of yesteryear when it was all peace and tranquility,' " said Dr. Nelson, who directs the university's master of public administration program. "Things may have changed from the way it was 10 years ago."
Housing boom
Although healthy economic cycles have spurred development in Lebanon since the 1960s, the past decade has seen the biggest jump in new housing starts since 1968. More than 1,000 houses have been built since 1990, according to the Lebanon Department of Planning and Development.
The aggressive housing market literally has greeted Mr. Reinhard at his doorstep. When he and wife Marcia moved in 1995 into the Silverwood Farms subdivision, there were only six or seven houses. Now there are more than 100.
He's pushing city staff to "come up with carrots for developers to have less density." One incentive could be to reduce impact fees for proposals with less dense developments, Mr. Reinhard said.
The three new members, as well as the rest of council, know changes they hope to make won't happen within the next month. Barring any surprise resignations, this council will be working together and ironing out the kinks for the next 15 months.
Mr. McComb and Mr. Reinhard, along with veteran Jack Hedges, are the first up for re-election, and that's in 1999.
"We want people to recognize that this is a new council. Not just the three new members but the entire council. The three new members have changed the other four," said Mr. Reinhard, who replaced 22-year veteran Gil Jarrard. "Give us six months. If we're not getting the job done, don't elect us next year."
