By Allen Howard
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SILVERTON - The second city manager has been appointed in the history of this small city of 5,500 residents.

Mark T. Wendling, city administrator of Independence, will take over Sept. 1. He replaces David Waltz, who will become assistant city manager of Blue Ash.

Waltz became the first city manager after Silverton changed its charter in 1999, permitting it to select a municipal administrator.

"I think we made a good choice,'' said Councilman Mike Morthorst. "We had 92 people to apply. We narrowed it down to 10 and interviewed six. He will be the day-to-day person to keep an eye on things.''

Wendling has been administrator in Independence for two years. He had been assistant administrator in Delhi Township for seven years and has worked as an adjunct professor at Northern Kentucky University.

"I am excited about working with the Silverton council,'' Wendling said. "Silverton seems to have done a lot in recent years and I welcome the opportunity to work there.''

Wendling, 38, was vice president of the Northern Kentucky City/County Management Association.

He received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in public administration from NKU.

His wife, Mindy, works for the Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio. They have a 5-year old son, Kyle.

"Even though he is from the Kentucky side of the river, he has good knowledge of Ohio government, having served as an administrator in Delhi Township,'' said Silverton Mayor James Siegel. "He is young and very energetic and I think he will fit right into the programs in place here.''

Wendling will take over just as the first phase of a downtown study involving the Montgomery Road corridor is completed.

Under his administration, the city is expected to move into a second phase of developing the downtown business district which will be geared to attracting businesses.

First Avenue, a consulting firm in Columbus, has been hired to determine the kinds of businesses best suited to the area.

"He (Wendling) will step right in the middle of our massive street repair program,'' Siegel said.

Residents passed a 0.25-cent tax increase in 2002 that will generate $230,000 a year to help fund a five-year street repair program.

"One of the biggest streets we will be working on is Stoll Lane, which will cost about $1 million to redo the entire street and the sewer system,'' Siegel said.

E-mail ahoward@enquirer.com