By Andy Foltz
NKyTribune Correspondent
The first 90 days of anyone’s new position can be tricky.
But Mayor Jude Hehman of Fort Mitchell started his first term with the city offices being temporarily relocated. Add to that a search for a city administrator, the city’s website being hacked,having police chief Jeff Eldridge on medical leave since Feb. 5, and a challenging job became downright daunting.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Hehman said. “The city departments are all over the place. Those guys are great, but they’ve been outside their routine.”
Hehman spent 10 years as a city councilman in Fort Mitchell, then stepped away from city government to help his wife Katie raise their four children. He also started Furlong Building Enterprises during that time period.
In November, he returned to city hall, this time as mayor. The time off helped prepare him for the jump from councilman to mayor, he said.
“I came in with a fresh set of eyes,” Hehman said. “The experience from running my own business has helped me notice some of the inefficiencies. I am really trying to take a team approach – I have been successful in business doing that. The question I ask myself is, how do we best utilize all of these (people’s) skills to benefit the city?
“You can either try to work together or you don’t get anything done,” he added.
The city building renovation is on pace for a June completion. The search for a city administrator has been narrowed, too, and Hehman hopes to be able to bring someone before city council for their April 20 meeting. City clerk Linda Bartels has been taking on those duties since the previous city administrator left in August of last year.
“Linda has been doing a great job,” Hehman said. “But I need to get her help. We had 20 good candidates, all very qualified. We’ve narrowed it down to five great candidates.”
The city’s website is expected to be back up and running in April. It was hacked once, taken down, and hacked again shortly after becoming active.
The mayor stressed that keeping the city’s page secure was important, so the city is ensuring the security before re-launching the page.
In the meantime, Fort Mitchell residents with access to Facebook can get information via four distinct city pages there: one each for city administration, police, fire and recreation departments. Those pages contain information on everything from snow emergencies to events taking place in the city.
A big project for the city is the development of the former Drawbridge Inn property. Mayor Hehman said that the city is waiting to hear back from Frankfort regarding a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) that would help with the city’s end of that development.
Christ Hospital has purchased the property and will be the anchor. Royal Drive will have to be rerouted, which is where the TIF comes in, and a traffic study done to figure out the potential impact on Beechwood Road and Grandview Drive.
“I want that to be a gateway to the city,” Hehman said. “I want it to include nice signage and some green space, and make it really attractive.”
To further economic development in the city, the mayor would like to have an economic development team, possibly including an administrative position dedicated to helping to bring more businesses to the city and to maintain relationships with existing businesses.
“Tri-Ed does a good job, but the city needs a liaison, too,” he said
Youth outreach was a key part of Hehman’s campaign platform, to the point he made only one promise, should he be elected: To allow Bella O’Brien, then 8, to be mayor for a day. When asked about that, the mayor became enthusiastic.
“We’re waiting for the new city building to be completed, and then we are absolutely doing that,” he said. “I want the youth to be involved like I was with the Youth Council. There are so many great organizations out there, like the Boy Scouts and student councils at school.”
His first step toward youth involvement was to create a theme for the city’s Independence Day parade, and create a logo for it. The theme is “Together We Build Our Future,” and the parade’s grand marshal is Sister Jean Marie Hoffman, Director Emeritus of the Diocesan Catholic Children’s Home.
“She, to me, is the pinnacle of someone who built the future,” Hehman said. “People grow up here, then they return as mayor or city council, or business leaders.”
As part of that, the mayor intends to bring the Youth Council back, hopefully by next school year.
The city also recently gained a School Resource Officer, with veteran officer Tim Pangallo starting in that role March 23. The position is funded by a state grant, and Pangallo will be stationed at Beechwood during the school year, in addition to teaching D.A.R.E. classes to young students.
Actually, a city administrator was managing the city through the end of 2015 (not August as reported) and the mayor chose not to have the continued (even temporary) help of the city administrator putting that much more pressure on himself, City Clerk Linda Bartels, the department heads and the city.