Rules of the Road

The purpose of this blog is to share with you my thoughts on issues pertaining to Oil City and Venango County and to foster discussion.

However, that requires some basic rules. Personal attacks, inappropriate language and venom-filled postings will not be tolerated. Comments will be screened, and if necessary edited, before posting.

Disagreement and a variety of opinions are encouraged, but I ask that it always be in a respectful, positive manner. So fire away, but do so cleanly

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Election

What a low-key election cycle this is and yet we have an important three-way race for the two available seats on Oil City Council.

I know and like all three of the candidates: Charles T. “Chad” Rosen; Venice Lewis and William P. “Bill” Moon.

I consider all three friends. Bill is my neighbor, and you couldn’t ask for a better neighbor. I’ve known Chad most of his life, coached him in high school and of course I serve with him on council where he is filling an unexpired term. I’ve often enjoyed Venice’s company. He personifies energetic.

Oil City couldn’t go wrong with any of them.

Still, I’m sure each has some very different views on issues facing the city and differences in approach. I’m not sure if anyone knows exactly what they might be.

It is unfortunate that there has not been a candidates forum and media profiles to help draw out the differences so that voters have more to go on.

Personally, I believe moderated candidate forums with appropriate media coverage are one of the best approaches.

Each of the candidates is working hard. Voters will have to do some work as well to ensure that the ballots they cast reflect their personal beliefs in the future of the city.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Welcome Our New City Manager

This morning (Tuesday, Oct. 13) council had the pleasant duty of announcing that Ryan Eggleston was our selection as new city manager. The appropriate motion was made and passed to officially appoint Ryan and the necessary paperwork signed.

Ryan is to start Nov. 9th. He is enthusiastic about coming to Oil City. In part, it was his enthusiasm that made him stand out among the candidates.

I know much of his background and the details of the search will be outlined in the local news media, but I did want to at least touch on them.

Ryan comes to Oil City from Greenville, where he has served as manager of the borough for the past four years where. Greenville, a financially stressed community, presented a number of challenges. By all accounts, Ryan met them head-on and admirably. He gained a reputation as a fiscally responsible, innovative and technologically savvy leader. Those are talents and skills we need here in Oil City.

Everyone on council put a great deal of time and effort into the search for a new manager. I’m personally so glad we chose to obtain the services of Peter Marshall to help us work through the process and find the very best candidate for Oil City.

In my mind, Peter’s assistance was invaluable.

As for the process of applying, applicants initially submitted their resumes to Peter, who screened them and then presented council with those he felt most qualified. From that pool and in consultation with Peter six candidates were selected for interviews by council and evaluation by city department heads.

Following the interviews, council invited Ryan and another candidate back for a second interview and a tour of the city accompanied by city administrators and council. The tour allowed us to get a much better feel for the candidates and them for us. We wanted to be sure whomever we selected would be a good fit for Oil City. Ryan fit.

Ryan is going to face a lot of challenges here. I think he is up to them all, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.

I hope everyone welcomes Ryan, his wife Julia and their 18-month-old son Connor with the same enthusiasm he is showing for Oil City.