May 28—Kettering has hired Bryan Chodkowski as an assistant city manager, just after Chodkowski submitted his resignation to the city of Huber Heights, where he held the same position.

Chodkowski is set to start the Kettering job June 17 after he leaves his Huber Heights position, according to the city of Kettering. Chodkowski had previously served as city manager in Riverside and Moraine. He also had a long stint as interim city manager in Huber Heights when that city had trouble finding a long-term city manager. Chodkowski said at the time he wouldn’t pursue the Huber manager job beyond the interim role.

Chodkowski submitted his Huber Heights resignation about two weeks ago, shortly before Huber Heights City Manager Rick Dzik was arrested on a drunken driving charge in central Ohio.

Last week Huber Heights City Council voted on two resolutions: one placing Dzik on leave and one to hire his interim replacement. John Russell, who serves as fire battalion chief for the Huber Heights Fire Division, was appointed interim city manager in a unanimous vote.

Kettering will now have two assistant city managers reporting to Matt Greeson, officials said. Steve Bergstresser has had that title since 2014 and has worked for Kettering for more than 20 years.

Bergstresser applied for the city manager’s job in 2022 before Greeson was hired.

In the new assistant city manager hiring, Kettering was seeking “a problem-solver who sees the big picture, identifies creative solutions, and demonstrates sound judgment and decision-making skills,” according to the job posting.

“The assistant city manager manages multiple projects and deadlines, is detail oriented, technically savvy and demonstrates political acumen” and will “effectively oversee multiple departments while providing senior level support to the city manager” the job posting stated.