Meet Robert DiSpirito, the New City Manager
For Takoma Park’s new city manager, Robert DiSpirito, his first day on the job last month started bright and early. Well, maybe not so bright, since the sun wouldn’t be rising for a couple of hours. DiSpirito began his tenure at Takoma Park with a 5:30 a.m. trip to the city’s refuse and recycling garage, where he introduced himself to employees in the public works department.
“Those crews are the folks who are doing the hard work serving our residents,” DiSpirito said in an interview with the Takoma Park newsletter. “I wanted to have a feel very quickly for what they need and what can the administration do to fund and support those operations for the people who are literally out there putting their
lives at risk to provide those services. Public works is a dangerous job. Working on those big rigs in the dark and on narrow streets and not knowing what you’ll encounter.”
From there, he caught the 8 a.m. shift change at the Takoma Park police station to speak with officers about public safety and policing in the community. “I wanted to stop by and say ‘Hey, this is my first day, but I recognize that I’m here to support you, and that begins with me getting to know you and coming out and seeing you where you are.’ And that’s to my benefit. I’ll learn, become acclimated sooner and get a perspective that the employees
have on public services,” he says.
The Takoma Park City Council and Mayor Talisha Searcy announced last month that DiSpirito had been chosen as the city’s newest city manager after a nationwide search.
“Throughout the process, Mr. DiSpirito was a standout,” the city wrote in a statement announcing the hire. “He is a proven leader with the knowledge of the challenges and opportunities we have in Montgomery County, 28 years of experience as a City Manager, and the vision necessary to move our city forward.”
It turns out, the mayor and city council barely had to leave their backyards in picking DiSpirito, who was formerly the city manager for Rockville, the seat of Montgomery County.
“I would say there are more similarities than differences between the two cities,” DiSpirito says. “Rockville is obviously bigger, population wise, but both are very diverse, both have a high quality of life, and both have excellent parks and public services from their employees. I’d say it’s a question of scale.”
But there was something alluring about helming the progressive bastion that is Takoma Park and DiSpirito decided to apply for the position that has been open since former city manager Jamal Fox resigned last February.
“For the seven years I’ve been in Montgomery County, I’ve been a fan of Takoma Park,” he says. “It’s a very progressive, complex city. Takoma Park is a thought leader. It’s relatively small compared to other cities, but looms large from a progressive standpoint and trying to thoughtfully address central issues for people.”
Prior to moving to Montgomery County with his wife, Evangelina, and two children, DiSpirito served as city manager of Oberlin, Ohio, for 11 years; and then moved on to Dunedin, Fla., for nearly 10
years; before serving Rockville for seven years.
“I’ve been blessed in my career to serve a number of dynamic and progressive communities,” he says. “I’ve been in Ohio, Florida, and Maryland and am very happy to have this opportunity to be in Takoma Park.”
Born in Bridgeport, Conn., and raised in Slippery Rock, Pa., DiSpirito got his undergraduate degree from Slippery Rock University before receiving his Masters in Public Administration from the University
of Pittsburgh.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot along the way from a lot of people smarter than me and from experts in their fields in multiple departments,” DiSpirito says. “Takoma Park is no exception. We have some brilliant people here and I know I’m going to learn a lot from them, but I also hope that I can impart some of what I’ve learned in
my 28 years as a city manager and 35 years in the profession.”
Throughout his career, he’s dealt with both the lows and the highs of life in the public sector, including working for years in Dunedin, Fla., to create a 7-acre beachfront public park on the last undeveloped,
waterfront property in the city.
“The new park establishes Dunedin as one of Pinellas County’s most environmentally conscious areas, drawing a stark contrast to the high-rises of Clearwater Beach visible on the horizon,” the Tampa
Bay Times wrote of the park’s grand opening in 2011.
DiSpirito says the experience working with the city, county and state and with the property’s owner to acquire the land and open it for public use is something that drives him in public service.
“Those are the gemstones in the course of your career, when you work with a team to pull something off like that,” he says. “It was such a desire to see that happen. Sometimes the planets align.” DiSpirito looks to bring that same sense of cooperation and success to Takoma Park, including working with the state and county.
“Being in the same county, I have access to the same network of resources with the [Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation] and various agencies at the county and Maryland,” he says. “I’ll be talking to a lot of the same people, just this time in the interest of Takoma Park instead of Rockville.”
He also hopes to engage with the city’s residents and hear from them directly on their concerns with Takoma Park, even if they may disagree with him.
“Part of what I’ve been blessed with in my career is that in the three previous cities that I’ve managed all had very great public engagement. I’m used to having folks be highly engaged and express their opinions,” he says. “People who make the effort to work with us, we need to respect that. We may not ultimately agree on the
point, but I think what’s valuable in keeping a community close knit is a sense that their government respects them and cares when they speak. Those are things I hope to promote here and I think there’s a great tradition of that here.”
As for the future of Takoma Park and where he sees the city heading, DiSpirito says he wants to focus on the things that make the city strong, including housing and developmental issues and maintaining
a high quality of life.
“Things like housing and sustainability, pedestrian safety, these are areas that most cities are involved in some degree, but this city is involved in them a great degree,” he says. “It aspires to do even more.
It’s that aspiration that really attracted me and where this mayor and council want to go and how they expressed it in respect to
their goals and priorities. They’ve talked about their dreams for the city and I’d like to achieve some of that for them along with this talented staff.”
DiSpirito says he’ll be introducing himself to businesses and residents around town and looks forward to meeting as many people as he can. If you need an icebreaker, maybe ask about the secret to his favorite recipe.
“I make a mean eggplant parmesan,” he says.
