CAMBRIDGE, Md.- After a charter change, many months of debate, and a rigorous interview process, Cambridge will welcome its first city manager on Nov. 30, when Sandra Tripp-Jones takes the position.
Tripp-Jones has prior experience as a city administrator in Santa Barbara, Calif., and worked with the international city/county management association.
Mayor Victoria Jackson Stanley said despite the long process of getting a city manager, she thinks Tripp-Jones will be an asset to the community.
"It's coming from the heart. I'm very excited with the prospect. People will say, 'Oh, the mayor wasn't on board with it,' [but] that's not true. I just wanted to make sure what we do will be for the best for our community, and I feel that this will be a good thing for the city of Cambridge," said Jackson-Stanley.
The city manager will be a full-time employee, a point person to help the part-time mayor and city council run the city efficiently. It is a change some business owners think will be beneficial.
"Other big cities have city managers. There is way too much to running a city than just doing it yourself with a part-time mayor," said Carol Ruark, owner of The Wine Bar.
Ruark hopes the city manager will be able to streamline the government.
"They need to streamline, cut costs, cut jobs if necessary, not that I want to see that, but I think we may have too many people doing things that don't need to be done by so many people," said Ruark.
Other business owners hope the city manager can unite Cambridge, and promote the city's brand.
"Focus on what we've been doing, what we can do better," said RealeRevival Brewing owner Chris Brohawn. "How we can all come together as a group and really further downtown, and bring more business in? More business equals more people, and that's what we all want."
