ThisWeek Upper Arlington 6/23 by Dispatch Magazines/The Columbus Dispatch

June 23, 2011

City manager search narrowed to three By CHRIS BOURNEA

For a full list of candidates, see page A2

ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Upper Arlington City Council members say they have narrowed down the search for a new city manager to three candidates. The successful candidate will replace city manager Virginia Barney, who will retire at the end of the year. As of ThisWeek’s press deadline, the city had not identified finalist candidates. In March, Upper Arlington City Council voted to hire consultant Heather Renschler of Rocklin, Calif.-based Ralph Andersen and Associates at a cost of

$19,000 to conduct the city manager search. Renschler advertised the position through the International City/County Managers Association and other municipal organizations, said council member Ed Seidel. Forty-six candidates submitted applications for the position, including two internal candidates who currently work for the city of Upper Arlington: assistant city manager Joe Valentino and Matthew Shad, deputy city manager for

economic development. The consultant narrowed the list to seven candidates for council’s consideration, and council members interviewed six of candidates in executive session at a June 9 special meeting at First Community Village, Seidel said. “Overall, we’re looking for somebody who can communicate with our public and with council and think somewhat outside of the box,” he said. “I think we do a lot of things the same way we’ve

always done them. Somebody coming in with a fresh set of eyes can be helpful.” City council president Frank Ciotola said one of the qualities he is looking for is experience in a community similar to Upper Arlington. Council is seeking candidates with “integrity and experience and management styles that we think would be a good fit for our community. We’re looking for folks that have experience with some of the challenges we’re facing as a first-ring suburb,” Ciotola said. Council vice president Mary Ann

See MANAGER, page A2

Chamber, CIC partnering to retain local businesses

Greenhill to resign following 2011-12 academic year

By ANDREW MILLER

Currently, the CIC has five vol-

ThisWeek Community Newspapers unteers who plan to survey 25

By KATE HETRICK ThisWeek Community Newspapers

For the past 14 years, Upper Arlington High School principal Kip Greenhill has been the most senior principal in Franklin County. “I’ve been doing it longer than anyone else in the county for 14 years. I’ve loved it, but I want to do other things now,” he said. Greenhill announced his his plans to resign in May. The 2011-12 school year will mark the end of his 25-year career as a high school principal. For Greenhill, the job has been all-consuming. “I’ve never really had any real hobbies. I literally live here at the school,” he said. “I am here just about every night. I’ve put almost every living hour into being a high school principal for the past 25 years.” Even so, Greenhill says he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I love it. I absolutely love it. It’s just the right job for me. It’s a great job, but it’s not an easy job,” he said. School board member Bob Arkin said Greenhill is known for his dedication. “Kip Greenhill doesn’t do what most people do, his job. He is his job. He lives it, he loves it and that shows in dozens of ways,” Arkin said. “I don’t believe I have ever seen a better fit between someone’s skills and character and the career they have pursued.”

Krauss said she is also looking for leadership qualities that will enable the city to maintain consistency in administration. “This council has a legacy to uphold,” Krauss said. “We’ve only had four or five city managers since Upper Arlington went to a city manager form of government in the 1950s.” Wade Steen, chair of council’s finance committee, said budget experience and financial acumen are also important qualities.

By Laurie Stevenson/ThisWeek

Upper Arlington principal Kip Greenhill addresses the graduating seniors at their commencement ceremony on June 5 at Veterans Memorial. Greenhill had announced his plans to resign in May.

Greenhill’s ability to connect with every individual student at UAHS even spawned a few legends. “There was a rumor that always seemed to circulate that he studied flashcards over the summer of the 500 or so students that were entering as freshmen each year,” said Joshua David Arkin, a member of the class

of 2007. “I’m still not certain if this was true, but it was certainly possible. I can’t remember a single instance in which he couldn’t remember a student’s name.” After earning his bachelor’s degree at Baldwin-Wallace College, Greenhill taught See GREENHILL, page A3

The Upper Arlington Community Improvement Corp. is working to develop a businessretention strategy as a part of its partnership with the Columbus 2020 initiative and Upper Arlington Area Chamber of Commerce programs. “We met with Mark James of Columbus 2020, who helped set our agenda and has offered to set up training sessions for us,” chamber president Becky Hajost said at the June 16 CIC meeting. “We’re looking at a three-pronged approach to our retention planning, and right now trying to do what we can with limited resources, so we wanted to get started on the discovery process.” Volunteers working with the CIC and the chamber will interview business owners identified by the business retention committee, Hajost said, in hopes of understanding what issues should be addressed in a retention program for Upper Arlington. “We’ve got volunteers who are willing to go to our list of businesses to learn what makes them happy and what are their complaints,” CIC board member Robin Lorms said. “We’re going to start the interview process on a voluntary basis to see if we can hear some of what isn’t being said, and get a sense of the comfort level of the business owners.”

businesses in Upper Arlington. Business retention plans at the individual community level are a part of the larger Columbus 2020 regional initiative. Information provided during this survey will be reported to Columbus 2020. Matt Shad, Upper Arlington economic development director, distributed the latest Columbus 2020 regional report based on current survey responses from 276 businesses and stakeholders throughout the region. “This document provides us with both a view of the work in progress as well as year-to-date totals that are measurements for our region,” Shad said. “As Jobs Ohio progresses, I believe it is clear that regionalism is going to be key to how resources are distributed. As we build this region, we not only have the opportunity to attract business to our small slice but we also have the ability to be the best neighborhood for those people to want to live in.” CIC members also discussed the Lane Avenue study being conducted by AECOM. A workshop meeting was to be held June 21, just after ThisWeek’s press deadline, followed by a results presentation at 6:30 p.m.Thursday, June 23 at the Municipal Services Center, 3600 Tremont Road. See CIC, page A3

Vendors offer variety at market By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers

The weather has kept vendors away from the Upper Arlington Farmers Market this spring, but others are thriving. For example, Columbus-based Pasta Ditoni’s was doing good business June 15 after pulling in late, with people sampling fettucini from small cups and swearing by their six-cheese ravioli. “The response has been just ridiculous,” said Alan Goodman of Dublin, after selling another Ziploc bag full of fresh pasta. “The wild mushroom ravioli is the most popular.” Probably the most-sampled items were the Gretna Grillin’ handmade cow’s milk cheeses from Blue Jacket Dairy in Bellefontaine. Susan Crusey of Indian Lake melted a cube of the

mild cheese on a griddle and handed it to people on a toothpick. “The weather this year has hurt,” Crusey said. “I know last year it was packed. It’s just going to be a slower week. There’s two (vendors) that I know of that aren’t here today.” People were also checking out Upper Arlington resident Valerie Long’s custom-made jewelry, which she also sells at Jeffrey Thomas Clothiers at Kingsdale. “The weather’s been so bad that the produce isn’t here, but once the produce comes and people know that it’s here, people will figure it out,” Long said. A teacher in the Columbus schools, Long said she likes the market’s new location at the UA Senior Center, 1945 Ridgeview Road, because it’s closer to her home. Other vendors said they