Saturday, March 25, 2000
City manager survives turmoil
Politics don't faze newcomer
BY CINDI ANDREWS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — He's an outsider, with an outsider's optimism about the take-no-prisoners politics in this Warren County seat:
“I think there's a lot of opportunity for us to heal some of the hurts that are in the community, between staff and council, council and the community,” City Manager James Patrick says. “I think we're going to get there.”
Mild words from a man who barely survived his first six months on the job — the words of a man who reads motivational books, a man not easily provoked.
“I don't think it's my place to say anything” about Councilman James Reinhard's call for his resignation in February, Mr. Patrick says. “I was hired to do the best possible job I can, and I will continue to do that. Hopefully, that will make a difference.”
Mr. Patrick, 48, came to Lebanon from New London, Wis., where he was city manager for nearly five years.
Before that, the Colorado native moved around frequently as a lieutenant colonel in the Army. He worked in base management, which he describes as being like city management without the zoning issues. The job included a stint in East Germany during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Patrick moved his wife, Anita, and three young children to Lebanon in mid-1999 despite having no local connections, and despite the political unrest here.
Former Councilwoman Mary Ann Cole had recently been unseated in a recall election that a couple of her fellow council members supported. The previous city manager, Richard Hayward, was booted midway through building a telecommunications system.
“You're always hoping for the best, but it did give me pause,” Mr. Patrick says.
The Patricks packed up and headed south anyway, he says, because of Lebanon's growth, the rare opportunity to develop a city-owned telecommunications system and because they thought it would be a good place to raise their kids.
And they're settling in just fine, Mr. Patrick says, building a social network among neighbors in their subdivision off Miller Road and among fellow churchgoers at Urbancrest Baptist.
What time Mr. Patrick doesn't spend in City Hall he spends reading Christian and motivational books, running — “although you wouldn't believe it to look at me” — and most of all, at home with his kids.
He doesn't spend a lot of time socializing with his bosses on council.
“I think at the current time it's important not to look like I'm taking sides one way or the other,” he says.
Mr. Patrick had barely settled into his job before several controversies erupted, putting the new city manager in the middle of a badly divided council.
• A developer began razing a tree-covered Deerfield Road hillside — land council had intended to buy for a park.
• Early retirement buyouts taken by three high-ranking city officials who may not have been eligible came to light.
• Railroad tracks in disrepair for at least a year were declared unusable for the Turtle Creek Valley Railway, a summer draw for the tourist-oriented city.
They are largely the problems of previous administrations, Mr. Patrick's supporters say.
“I really think he stepped into a horrible situation, and he's doing a wonderful job,” said Marilyn Haley, president of the Lebanon Conservancy Foundation and a downtown shop owner. “He's trying to sort out the situation and bring order out of chaos.”
Mr. Patrick began 2000 with the No. 1 spots in the electric and recreation departments vacant, and the deputy city manager and assistant city manager positions eliminated in budget cuts.
Nonetheless, some council members believe Mr. Patrick should be doing a better job of keeping them informed.
“I think he's a likable person; it's not that I dislike him,” Mr. Reinhard says. “I just want information before I spend money, and we're not getting it.”
After Mr. Reinhard called the city manager's hiring “a mistake” last month, new Councilman Ben Cole — son of Mary Ann Cole — introduced a resolution supporting Mr. Patrick. It passed on a 4-3 vote, hardly a strong show of confidence.
But outside of council, the general feeling seems to be that it's too early to judge Mr. Patrick's performance. A citizen-driven petition supporting him collected nearly 80 signatures.
“Anytime somebody takes over a new job, there's a period of adjustment,” says Rick Taylor, a member of the city planning commission. “... I sort of look at the first six months as the getting-to-know-things (period).”
Mr. Patrick has been a bit of an enigma to residents, talking little at council meetings or to the media. “So much of his job happens away from the public eye,” Mr. Taylor points out.
But the city manager's appearance at a recent meeting of the Lebanon Conservancy Foundation showed a capable public speaker who pokes fun at himself and acknowledges mistakes.
He opened his talk on his historic-preservation experiences in New London with a little humor that warmed up his Lebanon audience right away: “Of course there was no politics involved and everything was harmonious.”
Mr. Patrick told of how different New London groups came together — sometimes unwillingly — to preserve an old theater and lower the downtown business district's vacancy rate from 65 percent to less than 20 percent.
“Downtown is completely transformed,” says Jim Villiesse, New London city clerk and finance director. “That's the biggest thing everybody remembers about him.”
Of Mr. Patrick's management style, Mr. Villiesse says it is basically “hands-off.”
Mr. Patrick was most involved in economic development — something he'd also like to play a larger role in in Lebanon. While the downtown here is in much better shape than New London's was, he says, Lebanon can't afford to be complacent.
“A downtown has to constantly be improved upon and marketed and even expanded,” Mr. Patrick told the conservancy.
Despite a bumpy first few months, he remains excited about his job and optimistic about Lebanon's future.
“We're on the verge of doing some really neat stuff,” he says, citing city efforts to build a bike trail, increase parkland and update the master plan. “It's great to come to work and see those things happen.”
Mr. Patrick adds earnestly: “Every day's an adventure.”
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