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Former mayor returns as city administrator
By Jeanne Starmack
CAMPBELL
Former mayor Jack Dill is back in the city building — this time around as city administrator.
Mayor Bill VanSuch dismissed former administrator Lew Jackson on Friday, and Dill started Monday.
Jackson, who took the post in December 2007, had been administrator under Dill.
Dill had been mayor for 10 years before losing the November 2009 election to George Krinos.
Krinos stayed on the job a little over one year before announcing his resignation in early January.
As council president, VanSuch moved over to the mayor’s post in accordance with the city’s home-rule charter. As mayor, he has the right to choose whomever he wants as administrator.
He said last month he was considering three people for the post, including Jackson.
He would not name the other two, and Tuesday, he would not say who the third person being considered was.
It was a resident, he said, who called once but never came in for a formal interview. There were no r sum s submitted, he said.
He said Dill had called him and indicated he was interested in the post.
VanSuch said he had nothing personal against Jackson, but he likes Dill’s experience.
“Jack had more experience, being mayor for 10 years,” VanSuch said.
He said he realizes not everyone will be happy the former mayor is back.
He said, though, that he feels he must do what is right “for the betterment of the city.”
VanSuch said he will be the one in charge.
“He has to answer to me,” he said. “All decisions have to be made by me.”
Dill agreed Tuesday.
“Mayor VanSuch is the boss,” he said. “He’s his own man. I’m here to try to make sure his job is easier.”
When Dill left office in 2009, he said he would not run again for mayor. He said that still holds true. But he wanted to come back, he said, to see through to the end several projects he began working on when he was mayor.
“A lot of the initiatives and grants we’ve worked on will come to fruition this year,” he said.
One of those projects is Casey Drive, a road in the brownfields that will make it easier for traffic to reach Interstate 680. A new pumping station that will make the brownfields attractive to businesses will be finished as well, he said.
A third project is a sidewalk on Struthers Liberty Road, which will make it safer for walkers to the elementary and middle schools.
“Once you start, you like to be around to see it finished off,” he said.
The administrator’s position is full time and pays $30,000 a year. The administrator is responsible for supervising police, fire, street and parks and sewage-treatment departments. He or she is also the manager of the water department and is a purchasing agent for all city departments.