Baltimore City Official Nominated For Cincinnati City Manager
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley announced Thursday he has nominated a Baltimore city official for Cincinnati city manager.
The mayor introduced Harry Black, Baltimore's finance director, at a news conference on the steps of City Hall.
Cranley said Black comes from a city that also has had to deal with budget and pension challenges and knows the issues facing urban areas.
"He led the effort to get the upgrade of the credit rating of Baltimore, and he put a financial plan in place," Cranley said.
If approved by the city council, Black would take over from interim City Manager Scott Stiles. Stiles has served in that position since Milton Dohoney resigned as city manager shortly after Cranley took office in December.
Black has been Baltimore's finance director since January 2012. In that position, he has overseen a $3.3 billion budget, according to the Cincinnati mayor's office.
At the news conference, Black pledged his full commitment to management of the city of Cincinnati and said he would work to attract new jobs from outside the city, while also finding ways to create jobs from within.
"We will become the jobs mecca of the state and the envy of the rest of the nation," Black said.
He also said he would work to maintain "a safe city" and ensure that all residents share in Cincinnati's growth and prosperity.
A public hearing on the nomination will be held Tuesday, with city council members expected to vote Wednesday, said Kevin Osborne, the mayor's spokesman.
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