Hasson Named City Manager Of Kentucky Town Former Spokane County Commissioner To Help Falmouth Recover From Floods

Former Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson will be the first city manager in a Kentucky town nearly wiped out by March floods.

Faced with the daunting task of rebuilding, business owners and residents in Falmouth took up a collection to hire the first city manager in the town’s 200-year history. The Town Council selected Hasson on Monday.

“I see it as a super challenge. It will take everything I’ve got and more,” said Hasson, who was a Spokane County commissioner for eight years before losing the 1996 election to Kate McCaslin.

Hasson and his family moved to Cincinnati in July. His wife, Janet Hasson, is director of sales, circulation and marketing for the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper.

Falmouth, a town of about 2,400, is 30 miles south of Cincinnati. The Hassons plan to live in northern Kentucky between Falmouth and Cincinnati.

Falmouth, which was chartered in 1793 on the banks of the Licking River, was among the communities hit hardest by Midwest floods. Five Falmouth residents drowned, 100 houses were washed away and nearly every building in town was damaged. The town lost its business district.

Mayor Max Goldberg appeared on national morning news shows during the flood and was quoted in newspapers across the nation.

In addition to flood recovery, Hasson said, Falmouth is struggling to manage traffic and development as a growing number of people and industries move from Ohio to northern Kentucky. As city manager, he is charged with helping the town make the transition from historic farming community - a Revolutionary War battle was fought nearby, and Abe Lincoln navigated the Licking River - to Cincinnati suburb.

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