Stockton’s new city manager Harry E. Black has a career marked by both successes and controversy.
Black’s appointment was unanimously approved by the Stockton City Council Tuesday night after being chosen from a pool of four finalists. He will officially start his new job with the city in February.
Before coming to Stockton, Black served in leadership roles in both the public and private sectors.
“He’s someone who had experience running a city as large and as complicated and interesting as Stockton,” Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs said Tuesday, adding that he also has a strong financial background and isn’t afraid of innovation. “Harry Black was the best candidate”
The Stockton mayor’s office specifically touted accomplishments of Black’s tenures as Cincinnati’s city manager, Black’s most recent government gig, and as Baltimore’s finance director.
Both Cincinnati and Baltimore, where he worked from 2012 to 2014, saw upgrades in their bond ratings thanks to Black’s leadership, according to a news release from the mayor’s office.
Baltimore’s former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called Black a “lead architect” of the city’s first 10-year financial plan and credited him with helping to bring the city’s budget from deficits to balanced, the Baltimore Sun reported when Black resigned in 2014 to work in Cincinnati.
Black’s office did, however, come under some scrutiny for tax breaks mistakenly given to several commercial property owners, resulting in the city failing to collect millions of dollars in potential revenue, The Baltimore Sun reported in 2013. …
https://www.recordnet.com/news/20200115/success-controversy-follow-new-stockton-city-manager
Cassie Dickman 