Hartman named new Cloverdale town manager

Jason Hartman

CLOVERDALE — With the position being held in limbo since Wayne Galloway was terminated last April, Cloverdale now has a new town manager in Jason Hartman.

With Councilman Greg Jay not in attendance and Clerk-Treasurer Kelly Maners listening in virtually, the Cloverdale Town Council adopted a resolution to hire Hartman during a special meeting held Tuesday evening.

Hartman comes to Cloverdale with much municipal experience. He served as clerk-treasurer in Bainbridge from 2004 to 2015, and has also previously served on the Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center’s board of directors.

Hartman currently works as a real estate broker with F.C. Tucker Advantage in Greencastle and is a certified grant administrator with the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).

“I wasn’t necessarily looking into getting back into this deal, but then when I saw the advertisement for (the position), it just screamed my name,” Hartman told the Banner Graphic Wednesday afternoon.

He found that the qualifications the council was looking for were those he had experience with.

While being clerk-treasurer in Bainbridge was about budgeting, payroll, billing and collection, Hartman saw the town manager as helping to improve the community and businesses in Cloverdale. He sees the council as having the same mindset.

“This council seems to have a pretty strong vision for wanting to improve the town and has a bigger vision than I think probably you’ve seen in the past here,” he said. “I like to see the big picture of what can happen, and I think they kind of have that same vision.”

Hartman wants to focus on ensuring that Cloverdale’s government is fiscally sound with its utilities and the General Fund. Afterward, the town would go after the “funner” things like securing grants and completing projects.

Hartman sees Cloverdale as having great economic potential with Interstate 70, the C Bar C Expo Center and its hotels. He also wants to work with POET on its facility, saying that it is “a pretty big investment to be sitting there just idle.”

Ultimately, Hartman said the vision for the town’s growth lies with the council and its guidance.

“They’re the ones that represent the people of Cloverdale; they’re gonna be the ones making the decisions,” he said. “I think I can bring some good ideas to the table, but I’m gonna need direction from the town council. I’ll be more of an implementer than anything.”

As he settles into the role, Hartman wants to get to know people in Cloverdale, and to have input from business owners and residents alike about its direction.

“If we just stay focused and stay on the same page, I really, really think we can make some improvements here and continue to make this a nice little community,” he said. “I just think there’s possibility, and I’ll try my best to capitalize on what we’ve got here.”