Brookhaven’s Mayor John Ernst announced Friday that Christian M. Sigman is the finalist to be the city’s new city manager.
Sigman is expected to be at the May 10 City Council and the council will vote on the mayor’s selection at its May 24 meeting. The council interviewed four finalists April 28. His resignation as Hamilton County administrator is effective as of last month.
“In addition to Mr. Sigman’s distinguished career, his compassionate leadership style, his budgetary prowess and his visionary approach to ‘right-sizing’ development for the community make him the ideal candidate to lead Brookhaven as the city’s second chief operating officer,” said Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst in a statement.
A Jan. 29 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer states Sigman was making about $180,000 a year as the county administrator. Sigman was appointed county administrator in 2011. Sigman resigned in January as Hamilton County administrator. His resignation was to be effective Sept. 1, but was moved up to April. He will continue to receive his salary for the next three months.
As Hamilton County administrator, Sigman led a government with more than 4,000 employees and an annual budget of $1 billion, according to a press release. He also helped lead the development of the “Banks Project,” creating a residential, work and entertainment district surrounding the stadiums for the two Cincinnati professional sports franchises (the Reds of Major League Baseball and the Bengals of the National Football League) along the banks of the Ohio River, states a press release.
News reports from Ohio state Sigman was nearly fired from his job after the county commission became upset with how he handled a matter dealing with the Banks Project but instead stripped him of handling the “economic development duties and oversight of the Banks project …” and “county commissioners also took him out of the picture when it comes to management of Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park.”
Sigman had sent a memo to Cincinnati officials critical of the progress at the Banks Project and suggested the city and county may want to hire a new developer for the riverfront project, reported the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Last year he was a city manager finalist for Virginia Beach but did not get the job, according to media reports.
Sigman said he looks forward to moving to Brookhaven.
“I am very excited to serve as the next city manager for Brookhaven. Brookhaven enjoys a high quality of life and I look forward to embracing the vision for Brookhaven as a premier community in the Atlanta metro region,” he said in a statement. “I am particularly interested in executing the city’s high-quality planning efforts related to expanding and protecting park space as well as managed development activities to mitigate traffic congestion. I look forward to being an active participant in the community.”
Brookhaven parted ways with its first city manager in January. The city reached an “amicable settlement” with former city manager Marie Garrett after mediation with attorneys took place on Jan. 21. As part of the settlement, Garrett resigned her post and received a payout of $225,000.
Police Chief Gary Yandura has been serving as interim city manager. A national search for the new city manager was conducted.
“The top sets the tone.” Looks like we’ve got a good one. Welcome, Christian!!–Tom Reilly