Craig Hupy to Lead Ann Arbor Public Services

Craig Hupy has been appointed as public services area administrator for the city of Ann Arbor. The city council confirmed Hupy as the choice of city administrator Steve Powers at its Oct. 1, 2012 meeting. Hupy has been serving as interim area administrator for the better part of a year. Public services includes drinking water, stormwater, sanitary sewer, streets, fleet, systems planning and field operations.

Hupy is an engineer by training, and holds a bachelor of science degree from Michigan Technological University. He’s worked for the city since 1986.

The city council’s appointment of the position is stipulated in the city charter in Section 12.1(b): “The appointive officers shall be the City Administrator and the Attorney, who shall be appointed by the Council; the Assessor and the Treasurer, the Clerk, the Controller, the Director of Building and Safety Engineering, the Fire Chief, the Police Chief, the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, the Superintendent of Public Works, and the Superintendent of Utilities, who shall be appointed by the Council on the recommendation of the City Administrator; ”

Hupy had replaced Sue McCormick as public services area administrator on an interim basis, after she left that post to take a job as head of the Detroit water and sewerage department in late 2011. McCormick’s last day on the job was Dec. 16, 2011.

When the city administrator announced the interim appointment of Hupy at the Dec. 29, 2011 meeting, he said that Hupy wouldn’t be a candidate for the permanent job: “City administrator Steve Powers announced at the council’s Dec. 5 meeting that the city’s head of systems planning, Craig Hupy, will fill in for McCormick on an interim basis. Powers reported that Hupy had no interest in the permanent position.”

Hupy wrote to The Chronicle in response to an emailed query about the reason for rethinking his interest in the job: “The realization that my public service within the various operations of the City of Ann Arbor had prepared me well to lead the Public Services Area forward and face the future’s challenges.”

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link]