During 5 decades as a Public Administrator, Mr. Cleveland has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s top Public Administrators.  His hands-on experience in local government is unique – having served in multiple local government positions including City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Clerk, Personnel Director, and Parks and Recreation Director over 25 years.  His reputation in gaining / regaining public trust in the council and staff has come from his ability to forge strong partnerships between parties on opposite sides of issues – including developers, local, state and national elected officials and citizen groups.

For 24 years as City Manager and Assistant City Manager, he assisted the City of Goodyear in the management of one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.  As Goodyear grew quickly from a population of 3,000 to 50,000 and staffing levels from 39 to 550 employees, Mr. Cleveland also served as City Clerk, Personnel Director, and Parks and Recreation Director during his early years in Goodyear.

Mr. Cleveland also served as City Manager of Buckeye, AZ – one of the other fastest-growing cities in the United States which grew 678% and 600 sq/mi in the 10 years preceding his arrival. When Mr. Cleveland arrived the City had been experiencing a near-traumatic reductions in growth, staffing and budget. For 7 years, he was effective in ‘surgical management’ of budget and staffing cuts including 30% general fund losses the loss of 200 employees.  Recovery and rebounding included the replacement of 140 employee during population reduction and increasing community demand for services, the adoption of new sales taxes; annual water and sewer rate adjustments, and infrastructure bonds to stimulate economic growth and employment.  

Mr. Cleveland’s consulting experience for public and private sectors includes Compensation and Classification Studies, Efficiency Audits, Executive Search, Council and Management Visioning Retreats, Management and Line Staff Training while changing and improving deep-seeded and ineffective organizational cultures.  His experience in Contract Service audits, Zoning and Land Use, Riparian habitat preservation, Water Resource Management, Base Realignment, Military Installation, Public Relations and Regional Transportation Planning is an asset to Municipal Solutions clients and consultants.

His education includes a Master’s in Public Administration at Arizona State University - Tempe, Arizona and Bachelor of Science, Community Services and Public Administration at University of Oregon - Eugene, Oregon.