Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long intends to dissolve the city's Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) amid major restructuring around the new Office of Strategic Growth.
The plan also includes creating a new Department of Opportunity and Resident Services. The changes require City Council approval; the plan is expected to be up for consideration later this month. If approved, the new structure will be in place by the end of May.
"We are really excited about this," Long told WVXU. "The last four years, we've been looking at the holes, and how can we do things better."
Officials announced plans for the new Office of Strategic Growth in early February, acting on a recommendation from the third-party Futures Commission nearly two years ago.
Assistant City Manager Billy Weber says the Futures Commission report was aimed at improving service delivery.
"We determined that this approach is the best way to get there from a service delivery perspective," Weber said. "It really comes down to mission focus — knowing who your clients are, who your customers are, and what you're there to accomplish."
The intention is to create a central hub and single point of contact for developers, who often complain about how difficult it is to work with the city, officials say.
"DCED was doing a lot of things, but not really doing a lot of things well," Long told WVXU. "We dump a lot of stuff in departments, and we expect everybody to wear 50 billion hats ... We've seen it throughout City Hall, so this just gives us another opportunity of saying, what should you be doing and what should you not?"
DCED has a budgeted staff of 38 people. Those employees are not guaranteed a job under the new structure, but are invited to apply for a new position.
"This is a fairly major restructuring for us," Weber said. "We need to go through the interview process to make sure we get the right people in the right places."
It's not yet clear what each of those positions will be, or how many positions will be distributed. Officials say those jobs are expected to be posted within a few weeks.
The plan is budget-neutral at least through the end of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The City Manager's Office will prepare a long-term funding plan as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget process.
Long says the transition will not delay any projects currently in development or that may be proposed in the next few months.
"With these departmental updates, City Manager Long and our Administration are continuing to make sure our resources and structures are aligned with our goals," said Mayor Aftab Pureval in a statement. "The key focus here is maximizing our service delivery, putting City employees in a position to catalyze and facilitate even more growth across our neighborhoods."
New Office of Strategic Growth
Long says the office will handle the "big projects" that were previously under the jurisdiction of DCED.
The "mission focus" is: "Creating housing and economic growth in the City by providing services to for-profit and non-profit developers, the high-growth start up sector, and established businesses. Leverage collaboration with partners, policy innovation, and process reforms to increase housing and economic development growth."
A "proposed service catalogue" includes:
Real estate development:
- Tax incentives
- Capital programs for neighborhood development, affordable housing, etc.
- Real estate transactions
- Community Development Corporations operating support
- Housing Advisory Board
- Banks Community Authority
Job creation and business support:
- Job creation tax credits
- Business attraction and retention
Brandon Rudd will lead the office as interim deputy director. He joined DCED in November as deputy director, after working at the Cincinnati Chamber as director of the Center for Research and Data.
A position for director of the new office is not expected to be posted until after City Council passes a budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1.
New Department of Opportunity and Resident Services
This new department will combine some existing positions and services, including Human Services and the Office of Opportunity.
The "mission focus" is: "Creating economic opportunity and economic empowerment for City residents, particularly residents in need or that have been historically disadvantaged, by providing services to homeowners, tenants, small business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as residents experiencing homelessness. Leverage collaborate with established social sector partners and lenders to deliver services."
A "proposed service catalogue" includes:
- Workforce opportunity
- Small business and women-owned business / minority-owned business support
- Homeowner support (down payment assistance, residential tax abatements)
- Tenant/renter supports (Access to Counsel, eviction prevention, etc.)
- Human services
- Community Council support
- Homelessness
Current DCED Director Markiea Carter will lead the new department, with Deputy Directors Tiffany Brown (current director of the Office of Opportunity) and Deanna White (current director of Human Services).
Learn more Thursday
The city's Office of Strategic Growth and a plan to establish a 10-year cycle for comprehensive neighborhood plans will be the topic of discussion on Cincinnati Edition this Thursday at noon.
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