Anthony Ruggiero—who announced he was stepping down as Peekskill's planning director in December for a position with Putnam County—will start as city manager July 15.
The hiring coincides with the resignation of Brian Havranek, acting city manager. Medical issues prompted his decision.
Ruggiero's new job carries a salary of $163,000, "the same level the previous city manager had," officials said. The contract dictates that salary would remain in effect for this year and the next four, but does not dictate a specific term length, Mayor Mary Foster said during a press conference Thursday.
"Every city manager serves at the pleasure of the council, so there's never a fixed term," she said, adding that there's "nothing funky or unusual" in this contract.
Ruggiero's experience with Peekskill spans 13 years. During that time, he helped elected officials "secure $8 million in funding ... to develop and implement Peekskill's Waterfront Development Park," served as acting city manager during Superstorm Sandy, and worked on infrastructure developments downtown, according to Foster.
He was here for last year's layoffs, and he's familiar with technology and modernization challenges facing Peekskill, according to elected leaders.
The city didn't have anything "as significant" to offer Ruggerio when he left six months ago, Foster said. There were "a lot of emails and concerns" when he stepped down, with folks concerned the city was losing someone who was responsive and understanding to local needs, the mayor told reporters.
A Carmel native, whose mother is from Peekskill, Ruggiero currently lives in Fishkill. He and his family are moving here because of the position, which Ruggiero is "excited" to begin.
"I know we've got a great team here, we've always had a great team," he said Thursday. "A lot of great things on the table and I want to keep moving forward with everything, keep moving forward with development we have going, with all our initiatives."
With a bachelor's degree in political science and a Masters in Public Administration, Ruggiero's priorities will be to continue Peekskll's "economic growth and expansion, and to modernize" the workforce.
"With the budget process beginning immediately, I'll be working to ensure a balanced budget that preserves our strong financial footing," he said in a statement.
Foster is confident the transition will be a smooth one.
"We didn't do a search for this," Foster said when asked how many candidates were interviewed. "We knew what we wanted."
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