Richard Dzik: Huber Heights really appeals to me because it's a metropolitan suburb. It's a beautiful community, has a ton of amenities from its parks, the Metro Park to the Rose Music Center. It's really moving forward, and I'm eager to be a part of that.
Jerry Kenney: You mentioned your history as EMS or firefighter, and so I'm curious about how that experience affects your work as city leader, because that essentially puts you on both sides of the spectrum with regard to how a city is run and what resources are available for its workers.
RD: Yeah, I think being an employee of government is a great resource for a city manager - understanding how the front lines operate. As the city manager for Huber Heights, I also serve as the public safety director for the city, overseeing the police and fire departments and so, having a public safety background is really key, at least in Huber Heights, to filling this role. You know, it allows me to very easily understand what definitely our fire departments do, but even a little bit about how police departments operate and how they're run. So, it's really a great experience that I'm glad I had. But I think what that early experience in local government taught me is really the value of service and so it's probably what sold me on making public employment my career.
JK: You've had your eye on Huber Heights for some time. I believe you were in a round of city managers for the last round of candidates. So, what brought you back to apply for the position?
RD: You know, when I came that first round in 2022, the city really sold itself to me. I realized how it really would be the perfect fit for me. This is the perfect community for me. And so, you know, after the search was paused and then started back up again, it was still very much on my radar, and I was still very much interested if city council felt that I'd be a good fit for them and so, I'm excited that they have put their trust in me. I'm confident that I will help move this city forward along with the rest of our city staff and so I'm just very excited it worked out in the end.
JK: So as city manager, what is your approach to wading through the different voices and opinions on what's best to move Huber Heights forward?
RD: Yeah, so I've had the opportunity now to meet one on one with all of the Huber Heights City Council members, and they all have the best interests of Huber Heights in mind. They just have different maybe views of what that is. And that's not unique. You know, I've told many council members, I've worked in other cities. Governing is hard. It's never easy. And there's always going to be some conflicts and things like that. So, you know, my way to try and address it as a city manager is is I work for all eight council members and the mayor. I believe it's my job to try and find a path forward that works for most, if not all of them, including maybe identifying some compromisers here or there. But ultimately, I work for them.
JK: So, you mentioned at the start that what drew you to Huber Heights is the growth. And certainly, Huber Heights is facing a lot of growth potential. There is all kinds of talk about potential new businesses coming in, new development for the city. And so economic growth is great for everybody but how do you strike that balance between growth and still maintaining quality of life in local neighborhoods?
RD: Yeah, you know, there's always going to be a large spectrum of opinions about growth. I will say that again, trying to find that balance between growth and maintaining the character of Huber Heights or even expanding that character of Huber Heights, that's... We need growth. It does help to keep costs down for our residents. It helps to bring even more amenities for our existing residents, but I do understand and I've heard it even in Mount Vernon, that we don't want to lose the character we have. And so that's going to be the key to how we grow here in Huber Heights.
JK: Richard Dzik is the new city manager for the city of Huber Heights. Rick, thanks so much for your time today.
RD: Thanks so much for having me.
