Snyder picks transition team, begins evaluations
NWI Times
Nov 12, 2011
PORTAGE | Just days after his victory in the Portage mayoral race, James Snyder has begun to put together a transition team he says will help him evaluate and offer advice in decision making prior to taking office Jan. 1.
Snyder, a Republican, defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor Olga Velazquez last week by 238 votes in a sometimes contentious race for the city's top seat.
Jim Fitzer, a retired NIPSCO official, will head the transition team, Snyder said. Additional members will be Dave Fagan, a former Republican Portage City Council member and financial secretary for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150; Susan Kelly-Johnson, a local attorney and member of the city's Redevelopment Commission; and Dave Kasarda, director of the Portage Township YMCA.
Snyder said he intends to appoint a fifth member to the committee, but the individual has not yet committed.
He said he also is drawing on advice from Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas, former Portage Mayor Doug Olson and Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold.
"They will help me evaluate each department head and each department," adding it is not his intention at this point to "clean house" of present city employees.
"It is my priority not to be emotional, but to also be firm," he said.
Police Chief Mark Becker became an issue during the election. Snyder said he has not decided whether he will ask Becker to continue to serve.
He does, however, believe the police chief should be a resident of the city. Becker lives in Union Township.
"The police chief should go through what we go through on a daily basis," he said.
The same residency requirement may not have to be met for other department heads. Portage Fire Chief Tom Fieffer lives in Chesterton.
"We will take it on a case-by-case basis," Snyder said.
He did not hint last week as to which department heads may be asked to stay or leave. He said those department heads who will not be asked to remain with his administration will be notified by Thanksgiving.
Snyder said he also hopes to meet with the City Council to review goals and learn what residents told them during the campaign.
"I want to create a plan of what we can do quickly, and they will be a part of that," he said, adding he also hopes to sit down with Velazquez at some point to facilitate a smooth transition.
One top priority, he said, will be to begin discussions on modernizing city trash collection. Snyder proposed mechanizing trash pickup to make it more efficient and save money.
He also pledged last week to "do everything we can to make the University Center a success." The building under construction on Central Avenue was an issue of debate during the mayoral race.
Snyder said, once in office, he will conduct a survey of the community about City Hall operations and to evaluate customer service. He has not determined how the survey will be conducted.
He also added that he plans on being a full-time mayor with no plans of hiring a deputy mayor.
"My office has run well for the last six months (while running for the mayor's office) and it will do well when I take office," he said of his mortgage business.
"No city in Indiana has the opportunities that we have here. There is so much we can do here to have a direct effect on jobs recovery," Snyder said.
"I will be the mayor for everybody. I want to make the people who worked so hard to elect me proud. I am not perfect. I will make mistakes. I am a listener. I want to listen to people," he said.
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