CONNEAUT — Creative solutions are needed to the problems that confront Conneaut, City Manager Robert Schaumleffel Jr. said Tuesday.
Schaumleffel was the main attraction at a meet-and-greet reception held at the Conneaut Human Resources Center. Some 100 people took the opportunity to shake hands and offer ideas to the new manager, who came to Conneaut five weeks ago.
Before he began working the room, Schaumleffel made a few remarks. Schaumleffel said he was raised in Zanesville and has logged more than 30 years in public administration. Even when working in other states, Buckeyes flowed in his blood.
“I feel connected to Ohio,” he said.
Economic woes in the state and across the country have hit the area hard, Schaumleffel said.
“We definitely have some challenging issues confronting us,” he said. “Hopefully, I can assist and put to use some of the things I’ve learned.”
Immediately after his arrival, Schaumleffel was confronted with an $811,000 general-fund budget deficit for 2009. A balanced budget was approved late last month by council, but its durability depends on a number of factors.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a very interesting 30 days,” Schaumleffel said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. “Our first priority is to become fiscally sound.”
The intense budget work has prevented Schaumleffel from meeting people in the community, he said. Tuesday’s reception was a first big step in fixing that problem, he said.
Schaumleffel said he will welcome comment from the community, good or bad.
“The only way we’ll be successful is with feedback from the community,” he said. “Collectively, we’ll either prosper or go down the tubes together.
“There are no easy solutions to anything anymore,” Schaumleffel said. “We’re going to have to reinvent ourselves. We have to find a new niche.”
The audience also was asked to pinpoint Conneaut’s strengths and looming challenges. The lake, location and people were listed as being among the strengths, while declining revenues and the sour economy could be found among the challenges.
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