The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Kirtland Hills continues (mostly) quiet existence
Road project, equipment purchases among plans for 2019
Not much is new in Kirtland Hills since John F. “Jack” Turben became mayor 24 years ago, save some staff turnover here and there.
And it suits him just fine. In fact, his goal for 2019 is to keep the status quo.
“It’s a great place to live,” he said.
Even the population hasn’t meandered far from about 750 people.
The most noticeable difference likely was the building of the new village hall 20 years ago.
Little change doesn’t mean nothing is being accomplished, however. He said the village’s first community picnic drew more than 200 residents this year. One of the highlights was Kirtland Fire Department bringing emergency vehicles and doing a drone demonstration.
The biggest plans for the new year include completion of paving Chillicothe Road and purchasing new vehicles. In addition, the police force is looking to hire a sergeant from within its ranks. The city employs 15 full-timers and has an operating budget of about $1.5 million.
“We have our own police department, our own road department, we use the city of Kirtland for fire protection and we use the Willoughby court system,” Turben said.
Despite village leaders’ best efforts to keep a low profile, the community still makes the news occasionally. Among the headlines in recent years were the actions of former police chief Gerald Smith (imprisoned for fraud in 2015) and some skirmishes with the Osbornes.
In contrast to surrounding communities that are pursuing economic development initiatives, Turben highlighted the positives about maintaining the village as is.
“I think we’ve been able to sustain Kirtland Hills as the village we all moved into,” he said. “We preserved the 5 acre residential zoning and we have a very strong financial position.
“We’ve had continuity of council and management, and we have an organization with very high morale.”