For Brandon Hammond, the lure of returning to Boardman was migrating from an education career to a role in city government.
“A lot of what lured me back was just the aspect of the community,” Hammond said. “The other thing is, I have been in education for 16 years and there has been this desire to want to look outside of education. So, those two things, with the opportunity still have a managerial role while doing something different.”
Hammond spent seven years in Boardman previously, where he worked as an administrator at the school district and served two terms on the city council. He also worked as a superintendent at Arlington School District.
Hammond said he felt his time as superintendent prepared him for his new role as city manager — with budgeting, goal-setting and reporting to a board. He added he has the privilege of being able to rely on the knowledge of those around him.
“There’s a staff that is extremely experienced and I can be reliant on their knowledge,” he said. “I mean, there’s absolutely going to be help there, with Karen Pettigrew still being on the city council, her experience will make this trip into this new field tremendous.”
Pettigrew retired as Boardman’s city manager in January.
The new city manager said he was excited about the new position, where he can use the skills he accumulated in his experience as a superintendent, as well as hone new organizational skills.
“I think there are some things that we can do a little better organizationally, and I really enjoy doing that, it’s a passion of mine to be organized and to look at the big picture. To make it better and run more efficiently,” Hammond said.
Moving into his new position, Hammond said he wants to focus on communication through the city, an issue he picked up on at the city manager candidate meet-and-greet on April 27.
“We need much more positive communication, more, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on,’ and more, ‘This is what we’re doing in the city,’ ”
“I also want to focus on making sure that we’re following protocol, figuring out what the standard is and if we’re deviating from any policies or procedures, things like that,” Hammond said.
To improve communication throughout the city, Hammond considered some classic strategies, like a weekly/monthly newsletter and regularly reviewing and updating the city’s website.
“An initial one that I want to do is a very open survey, like, ‘Hey, what’s going well in Boardman, what do you think needs to be addressed,’ and things like that,” Hammond said. “So getting feedback from our staff, city council and community members is something I want to do.”
All in all, Hammond said he was excited for the new position.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it and the transition to doing something a little different.”
