By: MuncieJournal.com staff—
Muncie, IN—On Saturday, December 28, Dan Ridenour was sworn in as the new Mayor for the City of Muncie, at ceremonies held in the auditorium of Muncie Central High School. Ridenour was sworn in by John Feick, Delaware County Circuit Court 4 Judge while surrounded by family and friends.
On January, 1, 2020 at Muncie City Hall, new Mayor Dan Ridenour swore in appointed employees for his new administration. The ceremony was not required, but many of the officials wanted to state their promise, many on a bible, to serve their new boss and the citizens of Muncie in their new jobs. Most major department heads have been selected after an exhaustive vetting process – but some, as well as board positions have yet to be filled.
That process continues, and the new Mayor has stated that having the right person in each job is more important than having all positions filled. As you might imagine, much work must be done quickly to hit the ground running – and the Mayor was in his new office as early as 7 a.m., getting organized. He and his transition team have been fielding applications and interviewing candidates since mid-November in preparation for the transition of power.
“I am just thrilled with this group,” said Ridenour. “I am thrilled with the experience, the qualifications and the excitement and enthusiasm of this group. We are going to do some wonderful things for the City of Muncie.”—Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour
You can listen to the oaths taken on January 1, 2020 by the current appointees who were in attendance.
Pictured L-R: Nathan Sloan, Chief of the Muncie Police Department; Eric Hoffman, Delaware County Prosecutor; and Melissa Pease, Deputy Chief of the Muncie Police Department. Photo courtesy of Delaware County Prosecutor FB page.
Pictured L-R: David Miller, Fire Chief for the City of Muncie; Mayor Dan Ridenour; Alan Richards,
Deputy Fire Chief for the City of Muncie.
Pictured L-R: Trent Conway, Controller for the City of Muncie; Mayor Dan Ridenour.
Pictured L-R: Steve Lindell, WLBC; Nancy Larson, Personnel Director for the City of Muncie; Mayor Dan Ridenour.
Pictured L-R: Ethan Browning, Animal Control Director for the City of Muncie; Mayor Dan Ridenour.
Pictured L-R: Gretchen Cheesman, Community Development Director for the City of Muncie; Mayor Dan Ridenour.
City of Muncie Mayor, Dan Ridenour. Photo provided
On October 8, 2019, MuncieJournal.com published Ridenour’s platform, as written by the new mayor himself. We are sharing that article again below. (We have edited the piece that appears below only to indicate he is now mayor and not mayor-elect.)
By: Dan Ridenour —
My name is Dan Ridenour and I am the new Mayor of Muncie. I, like many of you, have been embarrassed by the negative publicity that Muncie has encountered in the last several years. As your mayor, I intend to create an honest, open and transparent city government. This new style of government will be a focus for me as Mayor of Muncie. Below are twenty of my priorities in no particular order:
1. We will operate as an honest, open, high performance city organization anticipating future needs, utilizing best practices and striving for continuous improvement.
2. We will develop a City Communication Plan and Protocol that promotes greater accountability, effectiveness and efficiency.
3. We will dramatically increase transparency and create public access to all city council documents.
4. We will utilize key performance and cost measures to monitor, track and improve the planning and delivery of City programs and services.
5. We will develop a plan to increase community engagement in city decision-making processes.
6. We will establish regularly scheduled quarterly meetings between the City of Muncie, Yorktown, Albany, Daleville, Eaton and Delaware County Officials to foster successful collaboration and communication.
7. We will seek out opportunities for partnerships with Ball State University, Ivy Tech, Muncie Community Schools, Local Businesses and Not-For-Profits.
8. We will support department leaders who take politics out of public safety by holding people accountable for their actions and granting promotions based on results on the job.
9. We will adopt, fund and implement a regularly scheduled equipment, building, and vehicle maintenance and/or replacement plan. Planned, scheduled efforts instead of reactionary efforts will be the goal.
10. We will work toward collaboration between Muncie Police, BSU Police and Delaware County Sheriff Department officers in order to reduce duplication of efforts.
11. We will work with our neighborhoods to improve education, public awareness, and to coordinate programs concerning emergency services, criminal justice, and important social services.
12. We will work to strengthen existing community networks for those with mental health, substance abuse and addiction, and housing challenges.
13. We will develop a Comprehensive Parks Maintenance and Facilities Upgrade Funding Program for our changing city.
14. We will vigorously encourage, through a wide variety of actions, the development of sustainable and lasting housing options for all segments of the city. This will include high price, moderately priced and affordable housing properties to diversify the tax base.
15. We will encourage and provide support to Muncie employers who develop incentives for employees to live locally.
16. We will inspect what we expect by requiring accountability to each job and to each other. This includes making promotions based on results, not politics.
17. We will enhance the attractiveness of the City as a place to work through salary and benefit packages, workplace amenities and facilities, as well as professional development.
18. We will identify opportunities to improve collaboration between City departments and create subgroups on communications, community interactions, long-range planning and other matters of common concern.
19. We will implement an Employee Excellence Recognition Program.
20. We will seek out opportunities to create additional jobs and business without reducing the revenue to our local schools.
