BERLIN – Town Administrator Anthony Carson has resigned his position effective June 30, in order to accept a job as city manager of Painesville, Ohio, just northeast of Cleveland, the Berlin mayor and council announced this week.
Carson has been a manager in county and municipal government for 17 years and has more than 20 years of business management in the private sector. He has served as Berlin’s administrator since January 2009. Painesville is a municipality with a population of just over 20,000 residents.
“I enjoyed my time as town administrator in Berlin,” Carson said. ‘I was fortunate to work with a dedicated mayor and council whose only goal was the betterment of Berlin. I was also fortunate to work with a great town staff. I will always have a great appreciation for Berlin and its residents.”
“Berlin has been extremely well-served these past four years by a very experienced and capable person who has done an outstanding job in managing the town during a time of both challenge and change,” Mayor Williams said. “Tony has played a key role in the significant progress that has been made in transforming our town’s policies, plans and operations to meet the changing needs of our community, not just for today, but for the next generation and beyond.
“The council members and I express our thanks and gratitude for the leadership Tony has provided in helping Berlin build a foundation for success that those who follow us can build on throughout the 21st Century,” Williams said.
Williams added that Carson is committed to doing everything possible to ensure a smooth transition in the administration of the town’s municipal government.
In one respect, Carson will be going home. He hails from that section of Ohio, and like many of the “boomerang” generation who are repopulating the Eastern Shore, he is heading to a job that will be an hour commute from family and friends where he had lived before coming to Berlin.
Carson compared the community atmosphere of Painesville to Berlin.
“Just add another 15,000 people,” he said.
The town’s system of governance is slightly different in that Carson will be required to handle day-to-day governmental operations. In lieu of a mayor, Painesville’s city manager position implements the policies of the City Council, similar to the relation of a CEO and board of directors, he said.
Over the course of his time in government, Carson has managed cities with populations as large as 225,000, he said.