Happy Anniversary, Milton Dohoney

Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney marks his first year in the job Tuesday. His evaluation process continues this week. But here's more of what some council members think about him:

Jeff Berding: He gives him high marks for fiscal management, for managing the process of moving to a program budget, which Berding things will allow for more effective evalution of spending and planning. He thinks Dohoney's also very good at motivating high performance and gives him good marks also for verbal and written communication.

He called Dohoney's arrangement to let workers, eligible for little training from the city because of budget cuts, in on professional development opportunities being held by private companies: "It's an awesome thing."

Any improvement suggestions Berding has can't be directed only at Dohoney, he said,but are more problems with the system. He would like to see more long-range, strategic planning and some city-wide goals to be developed and adopted by council. He has suggested having planning retreats.

"I think he's the right guy. I hope he's our city manager for a long time."

Chris Bortz: "I think he's doing a stellar job. He's really focused on what I think are the key priorities in terms of the internal workforce and his vision of the city as a whole in the region."

"He's aggressively pursuing economic development. He's using that momentum to also direct city resources in a focused way...I think he's earned a great deal of respect within the administration. I have no criticisms that I can levy at this point."

"I feel virtually completely aligned with his mission, as I understand it."

He also said he hears passion in Dohoney's speeches: "His heart's really in it."

Chris Monzel: "I've been ipressed wth his demeanor and the way he handles himself. He has a whole different way of dealing with people than the two previous city managers. It's refreshing to see different styles of management."

"You know they say still waters run very deep. That's definitely with him. He just has this personality that's very calm, very reassuring. He's not very excitable. There's a lot there. I think he just brought a wealth of experience with him."

"I think there's a lot to him that we haven't even seen yet."

Laketa Cole: "I will say that I have been very impressed with demeanor. He's staying the course. I think he's very methodical in how he works through things. You can tell he's not trying to sit there and make friends with various members of City Council or the mayor...He communicates. That's what I like."

Cecil Thomas: "I think he's done an exceptional job in staying focused, in not really getting caught up in the politics." He said he hopes the current trends in economic development and crime decline can continue.

John Cranley: "I think he's doing a great job. I've noticed that he's focused on trying to improve the efficiency of service delivery and of the morale of the workforce...He lets the council and the mayor work out the political deals...So far, I think he's doing great."

If progress continues, he said, on the anti-violence Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence and with economic development, "I think he'll be superb."

David Crowley and Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell declined to talk about this now. They're members of the evaluation committee and wanted to let that process play out before commenting publicly.

Tarbell did point out that when he opposed Dohoney's hire last year, it wasn't because he disliked Dohoney. He said he did so because he wanted the city to hire David Rager, who had the job on an interim basis.

Here's this from Mayor Mark Mallory, who's the only one who could fire Dohoney, not that anyone's suggesting that:

"I think it's working very well. It should be clear to everybody now why I fought so hard to get him here."

After council members and the executive search firm finalized a list of qualities, Mallory added one: sense of humor. "This can be a tough town. And if you can't laugh about it, you're in trouble."

"It helps that he's a good person. And he's an extremely well qualified person...I couldn't be happier. We're certainly in agreement about where we have to take this city."

Dohoney's management style "allows me as mayor to focus solely on that global vision and to really think about how we move the city, how we elevate city government. He's really very good at keeping me from having to deal with some of the more technical details."