‘I know how to lead people’ - Russell takes reins as new Huber Heights manager

A longtime resident of Huber Heights, Russell served in various roles within the city’s fire division since 2000 and was promoted to administrative fire battalion chief in March 2021, according to city documents. He also has previous experience with the city of Xenia Fire Division.

Russell said his work as the fire division’s battalion chief helped prepare him for the city manager job. The battalion chief has oversight of the department budget and operational guidelines, along with management of the emergency medical services (EMS) program, the fire prevention bureau and other administrative responsibilities.

“When you look at strategic planning, organization leadership, budget making, or risk management, I got experience with those things while at the the fire department,” Russell said Wednesday.

This is the second time Russell has been considered for the city manager position. He was one of four finalists during the city’s 2022 search process. Dzik was ultimately approved for the role by council after a long, tumultuous and often unproductive search process.

Some residents had shared concerns about Russell’s qualifications in 2022 and whether he had enough experience and the right credentials to take on the city’s top leadership role.

An ideal candidate for the city manager position, according to the city’s job posting, would have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, or equivalent experience. Russell has two associate degrees, one in fire science administration and one in fire science technology.

What he may lack in formal education, Russell said he makes up for in experience.

“I may not know everything about engineering or everything about the water department, but I know how to plan for things and I know how to lead people,” he said. “We have key people with specialized knowledge in key roles, and the city manager should be the person who leads these people and directs the team.”

The past three-plus years have been eventful for Huber Heights city government.

Rob Schommer resigned in March 2021 after seven years as Huber’s city manager. After that, Scott Falkowski and then Bryan Chodkowski served as interim manager, the latter while City Council made its winding, stop-start attempt to hire a long-term replacement. They finally hired Dzik in summer 2023, but he lasted less than a year, with Chodkowski leaving this year as well for a job in Kettering.

Russell spoke briefly on the turmoil among Huber Heights’ city council members in recent years, tensions which seemed to peak during the strained and drawn-out search for a permanent city manager.

As he takes the reigns, and with a new council make-up following the November election, Russell said he feels hopeful that the tide has turned.

“In government, it’s OK to not always agree, but it’s not OK to not continue to try and work toward a common goal of making Huber Heights better,” he said. “I think we’re at a point now where we can have some heated debate and discussion on two different sides of an argument but at the end of the day, even through disagreements, council members can still get along.”

Russell said he plans to appoint two assistant city managers, as allotted for in the city’s staffing chart. Current City Planner Aaron Sorrell will soon move into one of these roles while maintaining oversight of the planning department. A second assistant city manager will be hired from outside of the current city staff, Russell said.

One of Russell’s first goals is to review and update the city’s current 10-year plan, which is set to expire next year.

“I’d like to see what we accomplished, what we didn’t accomplish, what we still could, and to build on that,” he said, adding that this will likely include plans for infrastructure and continued traffic improvements, among other things.

“I want a plan that works over the next 10 or 20 years to improve upon the things that we have, to make sure residents have the amenities they want, and to make the city a place they can be proud of.”

City council last week approved a separation agreement that saw Dzik receive a one-time severance payment which includes 12 weeks of pay and payout of any unused sick and/or vacation time. Dzik’s annual salary was $160,000.