City Manager Harry Black, 100 Days On The Job

Highlights & 2015 Priorities

Today marks Harry Black's 100th day as Cincinnati City Manager. Mr. Black has worked at a whirlwind pace to become acquainted with Cincinnati. Mr. Black and his team have made progress on implementing the policies established by the Mayor and City Council.

Highlights include:

• Meeting with 43 different civic, corporate and nonprofit organizations representing the varying constituencies of Cincinnati.
• Instituting traffic control measures in the center city in order to strike a better balance between promoting development and minimizing disruption to residents, commuters and visitors.
• Assessing senior staffing needs and making key decisions, including appointing a: Budget Director, Communications Director, Public Services Director, City Solicitor, Director of Trade and Development and Cincinnati’s first Chief Performance Officer. Several positions had interim leadership at the time Mr. Black took office.
• Recommending a plan to use one-time surplus resources to increase the City’s financial reserves, which was ultimately approved by City Council.
• Avoiding lengthy and costly arbitration through successful resolution of labor negotiations with the City’s two largest employee unions, police and fire.
• Preparing the City for a bad winter or other unexpected weather events through recommending the creation of a $3.5 million weather contingency fund, this was adopted by City Council.
• Recommending repayment of $4 million to neighborhood TIF districts, eliminating a liability from the City’s balance sheet and making money more readily available for neighborhood redevelopment opportunities. City Council approved the plan.
• Helping to negotiate a deal to complete the 4th and Race project with 3CDC and developers Flaherty & Collins. The project will add parking and luxury apartments downtown.

"I'd like to thank the dedicated and talented City workforce who have given me a warm welcome and demonstrated a high degree of attentiveness. The first 100 days have been busy and satisfying, but so much remains to be done. I am excited with where Cincinnati is and anxious to continue to work with the Mayor, City Council and other stakeholders to build on the momentum the city is experiencing. We are just getting started," said Black.

In 2015, Mr. Black intends to move forward on a number of fronts.

Key priorities include:

• Improving government operations and customer service through: designing and implementing performance management agreements with department heads; establishing an Innovation Lab to address the most stubborn service issues; and designing and establishing a CitiStat program, which will use data to methodically zero-in on areas of underperformance.
• Showcasing Cincinnati on the national stage. Planning is well underway for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, and work has begun on preparations for the 2016 NAACP Convention. These are truly marquee events that further validate Cincinnati and its people are bankable. The City has an important role to play with planning and coordination.
• Supporting the efforts of Mayor Cranley and others to ensure Cincinnati makes lasting progress on economic inclusion.
• More common-sense improvements to services that affect people’s everyday lives in areas such as permitting and trash collection.
• Begin work on a multi-year financial plan for the City to effect sustainable structural change. The City has infrastructure needs such as fleet and transportation, as well as long-term liabilities including pension, workforce and rising healthcare costs. Black and his team will lead an effort to take a 360-degree inventory of the City government from a financial perspective. This will serve as a multigenerational, transformative plan, which, with follow-through will hold the government accountable and ensure fiscal sustainability and viability.

"At the end of the day, a healthier and effective City government will support a growing economy, safer streets, thriving and healthy neighborhoods, innovation, fiscal sustainability and strategic reinvestment," said Black. "This community has a lot of assets, our job is to use them to our advantage to accelerate the incredible momentum we have going."

Harry Black is City Manager of the City of Cincinnati. Black took office Sept. 8, 2014, and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of City government and its 6,300 employees.