Notre Dame alum Joseph Sobota (1995) is managing the transition of the City of Pontiac to local control.
Joseph M. Sobota, a 1995 graduate of Notre Dame, has worked at Pontiac City Hall since 2011. Currently serving as city administrator, he is charged with overseeing the day-to-day operations of the city while working with the mayor and city council on a transition plan to return the city to full local control. He reports to a transition advisory board that was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to monitor the city until the governor believes that it is no longer in its current state of receivership.
Sobota is hoping that day is pretty close at hand.
“Pontiac's finances have improved considerably since last year,” he says. “We ended the 2013-14 fiscal year with a fund balance of $5.1 million, an increase of $4.2 million in one year, meaning we met our fund balance target several years earlier than anticipated.”
Sobota says he’s given the mayor (Deirdre Waterman, elected in 2013) control of solving the city's two largest lawsuits, one concerning retiree health insurance benefits and the other regarding the condemnation of the Phoenix Center, the long-abandoned amphitheater in the center of the city's downtown area.
Although Pontiac had met its fund-balance target early, Sobota says full local control will not be returned to the elected officials until the two big lawsuits are settled.
“My staff and I continue to review city operations to find better and more efficient ways to run the city,” he adds. “We have implemented business-friendly practices, which are encouraging all of the private development that has been announced in recent weeks.”
While believing that full control of the city will finally transition back to the mayor and council, Sobota still cannot give a definite timeline.
“Unfortunately, I am unable to predict when the city will be in a position to return to full local control,” he says. “But I will continue to do my best to make that transition as seamless as possible.”
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.