“Ashley is a great asset to the city and has served the vity and its residents well over the last nine years in various leadership roles,” said Vice Mayor Steve West. “I look forward to seeing her showcase her skills and continue the city’s successes.”
“Ashley is a great asset to the city and has served the city and its residents well over the last nine years in various leadership roles,” said Vice Mayor Steve West. “I look forward to seeing her showcase her skills and continue the city’s successes.”
While the city continues to hone its search for a permanent city manager, West said the acting city manager switch is a “tryout” of sorts.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“We all appreciate Nathan’s service to the City. Because we are unique in Butler and Warren counties as having two assistant city managers, some members of city council simply wanted to give Ashley an equal chance to serve as acting city manager prior to making a decision on the full-time city manager position,” said West. “We look forward to Nathan continuing to support the city’s initiatives and projects he has been working on and continuing to make Middletown great again.”
In March 2022, Jim Palenick, who served as city manager for less than two years, and the council signed a mutual separation agreement ending his tenure as the city’s leader and setting the stage for Lolli, then the fire chief, to take the reigns.
After retirement from the city manager position, Lolli was appointed in October to a vacant council seat following the resignation of Zack Ferrell, who moved out of the city.
Lolli said in a statement following Tuesday night’s meeting that he is a proponent of “developing your people and leadership from within.”
While city manager, Lolli said he had two assistant city managers, Cahall and Combs, who both have areas of expertise.
“Mr. Cahall was given the opportunity to present his leadership abilities over the past two quarters and now we feel that it is Ms. Combs opportunity to lead the city over the next six months. We are content that if we have the individual best suited to lead this city on the inside, then that is the path we will take. We will continue to explore options outside of that for a permanent city manager, however, we strongly believe we want that person to be from the region,” Lolli said.
He said Combs is “a trusted and loyal employee. Her leadership skills are evident in her operational abilities in the day-to-day actions of city business. Ms. Combs honesty and integrity is faultless as she is a straight shooter who gets the job done”
Councilman Paul Horn said realistically, the selection process for a new city manager will take until summer 2025 and Combs and Cahall will be top candidates. Combs will now have a chance spend several months at the top position.
Council has indicated a regional search will happen in coming months for a permanent city manager.
“It is a massive, massive decision. Some will want us to review candidates from across the county, I personally am not a fan of that ... there is so much talent in our region that we can recruit from,” West said. =
Mayor Elizabeth Slamka voted against ending Cahall’s acting city manager contract.
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