Mayor Elizabeth Slamka said “it was a very hard decision. There were a lot of very good candidates who did apply; I hope we see them in the city in the future.”
City Council voted 3-1 in support of Lolli, with Slamka voting “no.” She said during the special meeting that her vote “was not against” Lolli as she had a preferred candidate, though the mayor did not name that person.
Lolli, 63, will become the second person to lead one of the city’s public safety departments, serve as city manager and then serve on city council. Former Middletown police chief Bill Becker was the first to serve in those three capacities.
Lolli did not term his departure from the city manager’s position as “abrupt” but said “I did retire sooner that I had planned but at the end of the day it just felt like it was the right time to do it. It was to the point that I thought I am 63 years old, I retired once and there are other things out there to do.”
He plans to get back into teaching public safety at Butler Tech and even before Ferrell’s departure contemplated a run for council in the future.
“This opportunity presented itself and it thought I just want to jump back in the fray now,” Lolli told the Journal-News. “I love Middletown and I want to continue to serve the city.”
He said continuing to be a part of the good things that have happened in the last 2 1/2 years, including the $200 million Renaissance Pointe project that includes a 3,000-seat, multi-purpose event center, retail and office space, hotels, restaurants along Interstate 75 and the city’s purchase of the largely empty Towne Mall to direct future development.
Downtown also has potential but there is a “tremendous amount of work to be had there,” he said. 2025 needs to be the year a decision is made on the city-owned properties downtown, including the former Manchester Inn, Lolli said.
Lolli said he sees his job as a council member is to see through projects that started when he was a city employee.
He sees the new position as a council member as “very similar as his past positions as far as service to the city.”
“I think this is a little bit different. As a council member you help set policy and the difference is you let staff do their job. Don’t try to tell staff how to do things as long as staff meets the expectations and the policy decision that have been made by council,” Lolli said. “As a council member, my job is to be a board of directors and an overseer and let staff do their job.”
He will fill out the remainder of Ferrell’s term and he is does plan to run for a four-year term in 2025.
Ferrell wrote in a resignation email he wants the flexibility to navigate his personal life, which includes a new marriage, growing a family, focusing on his business, and focusing more on his aging parents “without the stress over the next hot topic item in Middletown falling on my shoulders.”
The resignation came when questions on Ferrell’s residency arose. On Aug. 1, Ferrell and his wife purchased a home in Warren County outside the Middletown city limits.
Ferrell was elected in November 2021, earning more than 2,000 votes. The top vote-getter that election, Rodney Muterspaw, resigned from council in November 2023 saying it’s “time for me to put health and family first.” Councilman Paul Horn replaced the former Middletown police chief on City Council. Lolli and Horn would be up for election in November 2025.
Middletown City Council next meets on Oct. 15, where Lolli will take his oath of office and they also voted to name Steve West II as the vice mayor, filling that role with Ferrell’s departure.
