The Mayor's Office

Department Location

Parma City Hall
6611 Ridge Road
440-885-8001

Hours of Operation

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

On This Page

The Mayor
Chief of Staff
Director of Communications & Community Relations
Executive Secretary to the Mayor

Duties Of The Office Of Mayor

The mayor is the chief executive officer of Parma government who has been duly elected by a majority of eligible voters. Each term of office is four years and without term limits.

The Office of Mayor is responsible for the following municipal services and departments:

Safety (police, fire and EMS)
Service (street repairs, rubbish removal, tree trimming, street cleaning, etc.)
Buildings & Engineering (residential and commercial building code enforcement)
Community Services & Economic Development (enhancing the city's residential and commercial market values)
Senior Center (oversees activities for the area's elderly to include “Meals on Wheels” and transportation for medical-dental-pharmacy visits)
Parks and Recreation (responsible for the upkeep of municipal parks and recreation facilities to include Ridgewood Golf Course)
Public Housing Authority (management of government funded and affordable housing for those who qualify)
Human Resources and Purchasing (responsible for purchasing of goods and services required by various municipal departments and oversight of municipal hiring practices and policies)
Communications and Community Relations (responsible for media relations and other functions involving the press; disseminates information for the mayor's office both to internal and external audiences; serves as a liaison between the mayor and various community organizations throughout Greater Cleveland)

In addition, the Mayor's Office includes a Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary to the Mayor.

Mayor

Timothy DeGeeter

Contact Information
Office: (440) 885-8001
Fax: 440-885-8012
Email: mayorsoffice@cityofparma-oh.gov

Tim DeGeeter is the 14^th mayor to serve the City of Parma. He and his wife Pam made Parma their hometown because they believe in the city, its hard-working people and its future. Believing Parma is a great place to raise a family, they have settled on Tuxedo Avenue, where they live with their three-year-old son Jack and their daughter Molly, who was born in August.

DeGeeter comes to the Mayor’s office from the Ohio House of Representatives, where he served the 15^th district, which includes Parma. Before leaving to assume the duties of Mayor, DeGeeter was the longest consecutive serving member of the Ohio House. He built a record based on fiscal responsibility while also making critical investments in Ohio and its people. He supported balanced budgets that cut spending but also expanded the Homestead Tax Credit - important for seniors in Parma and across the state - and kept tuition low at colleges.

Last year, DeGeeter was instrumental in the battle to save Brooklyn’s Hugo Boss plant, which was on the verge of closing. While the factory’s workers deserve most of the credit for drawing attention to the issue, DeGeeter fought alongside them to spotlight just how critical it was to keep the plant open - an effort that ultimately helped save more than 350 jobs.

He wrote Ohio’s Credit Freeze Law allowing consumers to place a hold on their credit report as way to protect themselves against identity theft. A former assistant municipal prosecutor, he also sought tougher drug laws, pushing for restrictions on the sale and manufacture of methamphetamine.

In addition, DeGeeter introduced legislation to expand Ohio’s Safe Haven law, a measure that allows parents to safely surrender unwanted infants under a no-questions-asked policy if the child is unharmed. His involvement in this law reflects a true understanding of the issue because he knows just how important it is for every child to find a nurturing home. DeGeeter’s father, an elevator repairman, and his mother, a registered nurse, adopted him at birth in 1969.

Before going to the Ohio House of Representatives, DeGeeter served as Parma’s Ward Four councilman for five years. On council, DeGeeter showed he can bring various groups together to improve the quality of life for Parma’s residents. To help provide a safe and fun place for children to play, he led a partnership of schools, businesses, city officials and residents to restore and dedicate a park named after Capt. James Lovell, Jr., an Apollo 13 astronaut and Parma native. DeGeeter also led a task force working with the West Creek Preservation Committee that saved the city’s oldest home, the Henninger House built in 1849, to preserve Parma’s history for all its residents.

DeGeeter has received awards and recognition for his work in the community and at the statehouse. For example, in 2008, he received the Parma Pride Chamber Award as co-founder of Leadership for Tomorrow - a program that partners with public and private schools to educate fifth graders on municipal government and to encourage them to become active in their community.

DeGeeter’s peers in the legal community also have recognized him as a civic leader, electing him as President of the Parma Bar Association for 2007-08. For his legislative advocacy for families and children, the Parma Council of PTAs presented the Ohio Lifetime Achievement Award to DeGeeter in 2007. A year earlier, he received the 2006 Ohio Child Advocacy Award from Moms for Ohio.

In addition, the Council of State Governments tapped him in 2006 to participate in the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development program, which identifies and trains promising state leaders in the Midwest. And in 2004, the Parma Democrat Club honored his efforts for the local party, naming him the Parma Democrat of the Year.

DeGeeter grew up in Mishawaka, Ind., near South Bend. He found his way to Northeast Ohio when he left Holy Cross Junior College in Notre Dame, Ind., and transferred into John Carroll University. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1991 and later earned his law degree in 1997 from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law.

Chief of Staff

Michael Culp

Contact Information
Office: (440) 885-8001
Email: mculp@cityofparma-oh.gov

Mike brings extensive experience in public affairs and government. Most recently, he comes from Resolute Consulting, a public affairs and strategic communications firm based in Chicago. Mike managed the firm’s Columbus, Ohio office. Mike was Chief of Staff to Ohio treasurer Kevin Boyce and Deputy Chief Lobbyist for Gov. Ted Strickland. He has served as Communications Director for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus, for which he subsequently served as Chief of Staff. He has also served as Executive Director of the Ohio Democratic Party and was a journalist for the Gannett News Service, covering the Ohio Statehouse.

Mike, a native of Tiffin, is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University.

Director of Communications and Community Relations

Jeannie Roberts

Contact Information
Office: (440) 885-8181
Fax: 440-885-8187
Email: jroberts@cityofparma-oh.gov

Jeannie Roberts brings a wealth of communications experience to the City of Parma. She was a journalist for daily newspapers for more than 20 years and adds another 10 years of business communications experience. Most recently, she comes from the Ohio Lottery Commission, where she served as the Deputy Director of Communications.

Jeannie was an award-winning sports journalist for newspapers in Florida and Michigan, covering Southeastern Conference football for the Tallahassee Democrat and Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association for the Booth Newspaper Group. She is also a magazine writer and occasionally contributes feature stories to Cleveland Magazine.

Executive Secretary to the Mayor

Michelle Blair

Contact Information
Office: (440) 885-8001
Fax: 440-885-8012
Email: mblair@cityofparma-oh.gov