New Albany Picks Columbus Development Chief as City Manager
Council voted Oct. 20 to negotiate a contract with Michael Stevens, who would succeed Joseph Stefanov after 27 years. Status: Council approved.
New Albany has chosen its next city manager from inside Columbus City Hall. City Council voted on Tuesday, October 20, to authorize negotiating and signing an agreement with Michael Stevens, who has led the City of Columbus Department of Development since April 2020. The city release says the pick follows a search that ran for months.
Stevens would replace Joseph Stefanov, who is retiring after 27 years. Stefanov joined what was then still a village on January 3, 2000, when it had about 3,300 residents and roughly 20 employees. Today about 11,250 people live in the city's 22.3 or so square miles, with a full-time staff of over 150, and the release calls him its longest-serving professional chief executive.
Stevens has deep Columbus roots. Before running Development, he was the city's first Chief Innovation Officer and oversaw the Smart Columbus program, and from 2007 to 2012 he served as the department's deputy director over economic development and planning. Between those Columbus jobs, he ran Lake County Partners, an economic development nonprofit in Lake County, Illinois, from 2012 to 2017. His resume also includes running economic development for Dublin, a stint as assistant service director in Huron and a corporate real estate job at Cardinal Health. He is an Ohio State graduate with degrees from both its Fisher business school and its John Glenn public affairs college.
Mayor Sloan Spalding pointed to that background in strategic planning and investment as the reason for the hire. The release does not give a start date, a salary or a final day for Stefanov, and the contract still has to be negotiated. It also does not say who will lead the Columbus Development Department once Stevens leaves.
For residents, the job matters because New Albany runs on a council-manager system, so the manager oversees daily city operations and staff. Recent openings in and around town include Graeter's at Smith's Mill and Braseros Bar & Grill. Find more on the New Albany page and in City.
