The New Oak Park Village Manager
Thomas W. Barwin
Village Board Names New Manager
In a special meeting Thursday night the Village Board approved the execution of an employment agreement with Thomas W. Barwin to become the new Village Manager for Oak Park.
Barwin currently is the City Manager of Ferndale, Michigan, a community of about 25,000 residents adjacent to Detroit. He has been Ferndale's manager since early 1998.
"Tom Barwin's experience and personality are a perfect match for Oak Park," said Village President David Pope. "We are a community with a tremendous and storied past, and an even more compelling future. I couldn't be more pleased with our Board's decision here tonight. I am confident that Tom will make a very valuable contribution to the life of our community and that he will be heartily welcomed and appreciated during his term of service in Oak Park."
When officially notified of his selection, Barwin said, “I am really looking forward to living in and working with and for the elected officials, people and employees of Oak Park. Although I am leaving one of Metro-Detroit’s most interesting, upbeat and progressive communities, I am thrilled to be joining one of America’s truly great and forward looking communities. I am sincerely honored to have
been selected and can’t wait to get started.”
Barwin's selection as Oak Park's Village Manager came after a national search that attracted a diverse group of applicants from
across the country and brought the top six candidates here in May
for interviews with the Village Board. The similarities of Oak Park
and Ferndale, including their active citizen involvement and proximity to a major city, were an asset for Barwin in the selection process, according to Pope.
"Tom rose to the top of the list early in the process," Pope said. "His list of attributes as a municipal manager is long and impressive. He understands the need to balance growth with historic preservation; he has a strong background in financial and operational management and labor relations; and he recognizes the many benefits of nurturing positive relationships with the schools and other taxing bodies. He
also exhibited the type of enthusiastic, open-mindedness that is essential for the manager of a community like ours."
The importance of the role of Village Manager required the Board to move carefully and diligently toward the selection of the best candidate, according to Pope, who said, "I am confident tonight that
the many hours dedicated to the search process and the hard work of my fellow Board members have given the citizens of Oak Park a chief administrator who can efficiently deliver the high level of public services the community deserves and expects."
Prior to assuming his current role in Ferndale, Barwin served in executive positions in the Michigan communities of Troy, Hazel Park, St. Charles, St. Clair Shores and Warren, as well as with the Michigan Department of Commerce. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University, Michigan State University and Harvard University's Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. He also served on the Brookings Institution's Midwest leadership group which helped craft a new public policy agenda for older suburbs titled Valuing America’s First Suburbs.
Ferndale officials credited Barwin with helping guide the community's transformation from a declining inner ring suburb to a vibrant community with above average increases in property values, a bustling downtown and increasing recreational, cultural and entertainment activities for residents and visitors alike.
He will assume the role of Oak Park's Village Manager in early August. He replaces former Village Manager Carl Swenson who, after 10 years in Oak Park, took a senior management post with the City of Peoria, Arizona.
Ferndale Community Profile Link
http://www.ferndale-mi.com/community/communityprofile.htm
Local Gay Organization in the Region of Ferndale, Michigan
http://www.goaffirmations.org/
Press Release from Ferndale, Michigan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ferndale City Manager to Relocate to Oak Park, IL
Ferndale, Michigan – June 30, 2006 – Following a Friday morning meeting with city department heads and council appointees, Ferndale City Manager Tom Barwin has announced that he will be resigning his position as Ferndale City Manager to accept a similar position with
the Village of Oak Park, Illinois.
Barwin has served as Ferndale’s City Manager since March of 1998. In announcing his resignation Barwin said, “Serving as Ferndale’s City Manager for the past 8 ½ years has been a wonderful experience. It is difficult to leave one of metro Detroit’s most interesting, upbeat, and progressive communities. With outstanding leadership at the Council level, and a strong management team in place, the time was right to accept the opportunity to work in another of America’s most dynamic,
diverse, and progressive communities, Oak Park, Illinois.” Oak Park
is the first suburb west of downtown Chicago, eight miles west of Lake Michigan, located on the Blue Line of metro-Chicago’s transit system, and home to 52,000 residents.
Ferndale Mayor Robert Porter has scheduled a special meeting of
City Council for Wednesday, July 5th to finalize transition plans and the process for appointing an interim and permanent City Manager to replace Barwin. In response to Barwin’s announcement Mayor Porter said, “We deeply appreciate the key role Tom has played in the dramatic turnaround Ferndale has undergone over the past ten years,
and the leadership and effort he has put forth to both move this region toward sustainable development goals and to diversify the transportation system. I’m certain we will stay in touch in the months and years ahead.”
Councilman Craig Covey, the senior-most member of the Ferndale
City Council said, “Tom will be remembered as a visionary whose relentless pursuit of providing excellent city services along with community design and beautification efforts moved the City of Ferndale to the forefront of desirable places to live in metro
Detroit. Beyond Ferndale, Tom’s efforts to build metro-wide coalitions culminated with the founding of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. We
will strive to find a new City Manager who will be as open-minded, innovative, and hardworking as Tom has been and hope to do so
within the next three to six months.”
Information on how to apply for the Ferndale City Manager’s position will be available on the Ferndale City website, www.ferndale-mi.com, beginning Monday, July 10th, or by calling the Ferndale City Manager’s office at 248.546.2360.
© Oak Park Journal
published by Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
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