Washington council hires new city administrator
A new city administrator has been hired by Washington City Council.
Richard Cleveland was approved for the position Thursday by each of the four council members in attendance. Councilman Joseph Pintola was not at the meeting. Cleveland will begin March 18 at a salary of $74,000.
“Rich separated himself during the interview process,” said Mayor JoJo Burgess. “We had three very good candidates, very worthy candidates. When we got through with the interview process, Rich stood out amongst all the others.”
Burgess said Cleveland brings a lot of experience, as he has worked in local government for a number of municipalities in Washington and Greene counties.
“He’s worked more in Greene County, but he has done some stuff in the city of Washington as far as grants and just getting money for communities,” Burgess said. “That’s something we want our administrator to be able to do and also manage those monies as they come in. He has a good history of working with local government agencies.”
Cleveland, a South Strabane resident, will replace Donn Henderson, who has served in the position since 2021 and is retiring April 12.
Burgess also issued a reminder for visitors to City Hall to treat city employees with respect, citing a recent example of harassment.
“If you have business at City Hall, come down and do your business and leave. If you have problems with something, that should be addressed with either myself, a member of council or some type of person in charge, not the workers. The workers are just doing their job.”
Council also adopted the 2021 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code and approved an increase in fines for violations to the Quality of Life Ordinance, from $25 to $50.
In addition, council accepted the retirement of police Capt. Carl “CJ” Martin after 23 years of service and approved the promotion of Lt. Von Lacock to the rank of captain.