Sources say Ed Somppi will be Conneaut’s interim city manager

By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

May 03, 2008 01:06 am

— CONNEAUT — Barring last-minute snags, Edward Somppi, former village administrator and Ashtabula County official, will be hired to serve as Conneaut’s interim city manager, sources said Friday.
Somppi could be introduced as temporary manager at Monday’s City Council work session, according to reports.
Council met in executive session Thursday night, in part to discuss the interim city manager situation. The following day, Council President James Jones said members spent part of the closed-door meeting reviewing resumes submitted by applicants.
Jones declined to say if a clear-cut winner emerged from the meeting.
“We may have somebody by Monday,” he said. “The person should be able to step in soon.”
Somppi, reached at home Friday, declined comment except to confirm he did submit a resume for the interim manager job.
Eight people applied to temporarily replace Douglas Lewis, who will leave Conneaut next week to accept a position as Painesville’s assistant city manager. An interim manager gives council time to locate a full-time administrator, which Jones has said could take months to locate.
Somppi, 60, a Conneaut resident, has logged many years in the public sector. He is a former city police officer and detective, and also worked as the Conneaut school district’s first substance-abuse coordinator.
Somppi served on Conneaut City Council, including a stint as council president. Later, he spent 13 years as director of Ashtabula County’s Emergency Management Agency. He was hired as Geneva-on-the-Lake administrator in 2004, and resigned earlier this year.
In March, Somppi was a candidate to become the Democratic nominee in the November race to fill Deborah Newcomb’s seat on the county’s Board of Commissioners. He was defeated in the primary by Peggy Carlo, former Saybrook Township trustee.