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Mayor Kapszukiewicz Introduces Chief of Staff
By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor
Noting that his
administration would be “a little younger than in the past
and a little more female than in the past,” newly-elected
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz introduced his newly-appointed
chief of staff on Friday, Jan 19 as an example not only of
the youth and distaff element of his new administration but
also of the “wonderful talent” he was bringing to the top
floor of One Government Center. “I could not be more
pleased,” he said of Catherine Crosby, the current executive
director of the City of Dayton Human Relations Council, who
will start her Toledo duties on March 5.
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Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz introduces Catherine Crosby |
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Perhaps in anticipation of
the question of why he sought to fill such a high
administration position from so far away rather than search
within the area, the mayor said: “I deliberately wanted to
bring in someone from outside for certain positions such as
chief of staff, finance director, director of economic
development. Toledo can benefit from the perspective of an
outsider.”
The search, he noted was
extensive. “We talked to a number of talented people,” he
said of the deliberate pace of the search. He described the
incoming chief of staff as a “person of great substance” and
“a national leader in areas of neighborhood issues.”
Crosby, a Cleveland
native, was executive director of the HR Council of Dayton
for the past six years and the assistant director for the
previous six years. The HR Council, which has no direct
equivalent in Toledo, handles fiscal oversight, staff
development, fair housing issues, civil rights enforcement,
community reinvestment, community-police relations and
business and technical assistance, among other tasks, for
the City of Dayton.
Crosby earned her
undergraduate degree from Wilberforce University in
accounting and her master of public administration from
Wright State University in Dayton. She noted that her desire
to take the Toledo position after so many years in Dayton
was driven by a number of professional and personal reasons
– among others, the city is similar in size to Dayton with a
number of very similar issues and the location is closer to
her Cleveland roots.
Crosby will be working
with two deputy chiefs of staff, Karen Poore and Abby
Arnold, as she oversees the day-to-day operations of the
city.
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