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CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Cleveland Heights will bring in a veteran municipal finance expert with three decades of experience to steer the city’s financial operations out of several years of instability.
City Council at a special meeting on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Joe Brodzinski as the city’s next finance director.
Brodzinski spent 27 years as a finance director in Cuyahoga Falls and Pepper Pike, and several years before that working in the finance departments in Lakewood and Oakwood Village.
Mayor Jim Petras said while introducing Brodzinski to council at a confirmation hearing on Monday that many cities would be happy to find a candidate with that much experience working in municipal finance at any level.
“Mr. Brodzinski has 30 years of being a municipal finance director,“ Petras said. “I’m very excited about the experience that he brings to this position.”
Council members praised the pick ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
Councilmen Craig Cobb and Tony Cuda each said that Petras’ two major hires in his first month in office – Brodzinski and Michael Reese as city administrator – brought impressive qualifications.
“This mayor has hit the ground running,” Cuda said.
Brodzinski, who spent more than a decade at each of his last two posts, comes to a department that has seen each of its last three directors leave after less than a year on the job.
Amy Himmelein spent two and a half years as finance director before she left for the same role in South Euclid in August 2022, just eight months into former Mayor Kahlil Seren’s term as the city’s first elected mayor.
Seren’s choice as her replacement, Andy Unetic, announced his retirement in December 2023 after just over a year in the position. Seren then tapped Tara Schuster as acting finance director, a position she held for 11 months before abruptly resigning in the middle of city council’s budget hearings in November 2024.
Seren nominated Rodney Hairston in January 2025, who left in October, after voters recalled Seren.
During that time, the city struggled with financial reporting, most notably failing to submit the 2023 documentation the state auditor’s office needed to complete that year’s annual report. The failure resulted in the city losing its credit rating.
Vice President Gail Larson said Brodzinski’s experience would be a welcome reprieve to a department.
“I think he can pull it together,” she said of Brodzinski. “I think he’ll make his employees feel that they’re empowered, and I wish him all the luck.”
Brodzinski’s career began with the state auditor’s office before progressing through several Ohio municipalities. His most substantial tenures were 16 years as finance director for the city of Cuyahoga Falls and 11 years serving as finance director, treasurer and city administrator for Pepper Pike.
Brodzinski resigned from Pepper Pike in April 2025 to spend the summer with his newborn granddaughter in Columbus. In the fall, he started looking to return to work.
“I like working in municipal finance,” Brodzinski told council members.
Brodzinski answered detailed questions from council members about his approach to several financial challenges facing the city, including an upcoming financial software conversion scheduled for 2026 and managing the city’s substantial debt service as part of an energy-saving contract with Leopardo Energy.
Brodzinski also addressed questions about the city’s lack of a bond rating, explaining his methodical approach to improving financial standing with ratings agencies. He described successfully securing “our first bond upgrade in a 25-year period in the city of Cuyahoga Falls” while serving as finance director there.
Brodzinski also said he has always done a 5-year financial forecast for each city, and he plans to do that in Cleveland Heights.
He also promised fiscal prudence, confirming he would be willing to advise against spending he considered unwise.
When questioned about the city’s $20 million cash reserve target, Brodzinski noted that industry standards recommend “anywhere between 5 and 20% of your general spend on an annual basis,” suggesting he might reevaluate that target.