City of Ypsilanti Office of the Mayor Jaly 8, 2016 ‘The City Council has acknowledged the retirement of City Manager Ralph Lange, effective August $, 2016, Ralph Lange has served the City of Ypsilanti with deep dedication since he was hired in July of 2012, He began during a time when the city was stil reeling from being hit hard during the recession, as were many communities in ‘our region, Furthermore, revenue sharing from the state was on the decline, further crippling municipalities. Mr. Lange took the helm with great resolution, on a mission to use his long earcer in public service to help see the City through its next chapter. ‘The City Council is grateful for Mr. Lange's financial skills, and his tireless work to find significant cost savings ‘and efficiencies in our budget, even at times when others felt that it had already been cut tothe bone. Restructuring departments, changing employee benefit structures, investing in significant energy saving measures, reducing public safety overtime, finding vehicle flet efficiencies, and leveraging significant financial contributions from regional partners are among those major savings. Most recently, and in many ways most significantly, his multi-year financial plan led up to the refinancing of the Water Stret debt in April 2016, Careful planning, tenacity, and some good timing (ie, low interest rates), combined to allow the pay-down and refinance to reduce the debt burden from approximately $20 Million to $14 Million, And, the City has continued to receive industry awards for strong fiscal ‘management and reporting. This was all because of Mr. Lange's leadership. ‘We ae pleased with where the chapter of Ypsilanti under Mr. Lange’s leadership has brought us. We've dug out of the deepest part of the financial hole the recession burdened us with. We are hopeful that a passage of the Water ‘Street Debt Millage next month—something he, and all of council, strongly support—will put us finally in a position where we can focus not just on surviving, but thriving. In preparation for the next chapter ~ Ypsilant’s future—Council is considering a proposal from the Michigan Municipal League to lead the process of identifying our next leader through their executive search service, That process typically takes atleast 120 days; we hope to have a new City Manager in place near the beginning of the calendar year 2017. Council expects to make a decision about the search firm at its next regular meeting on July 19. Before a now City Managers hited, and after August 5, our City Clr, Frances MeMullan, wil be the Interim City Manager. Ms, MeMullan hus served in this interim roe forus before and thus brings significant experience ftom both that, and her leadership role as City Clerk. Couneil is confident in Ms. MeMullan’s ability to support our excellent staff team in carrying ou the work of the ety, and the services our citizens expect, daring ths ine ‘We wish Me, Lange all the best in his fuure endeavors and are so very grateful for his service tous eee % CA ‘Atnanda Maria mond - ‘Mayor, City of Ypsitanti ‘One South Huron Steet ‘Tel (734) 483-1100 wow. Ypsilanti, MI 48197 Fax (754) 487-8742 iyotypsilant.com