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CINCINNATI — Just days before the swearing in of a new mayor and City Council, Cincinnati City Manager Paula Boggs Muething has resigned.

The announcement came Monday morning by way of a press release from Mayor-elect Aftab Pureval. In his statement, Pureval said he planned to commence a national search for a new city manager. “Based on that,” he said, “Boggs Muething will formally step down Jan. 19.”

Pureval said Boggs Muething has “committed to ensuring a smooth transition to an interim manager.”

The new Cincinnati City Council — which has six new members — will meet to vote on a severance package for Boggs Muething on Wednesday, Jan. 5, a day after they and Pureval are sworn into office for this term. Pureval expects to name the interim city manager Jan. 5 as well.

City Manager Paula Boggs Muething speaks at city press conference on COVID-19. She’s flanked by Mayor-elect Aftab Pureval (left) and Mayor John Cranley. (Spectrum News/Casey Weldon)

“Throughout the campaign I promised Cincinnati that I would engage in a national search to select a city manager. Upon taking office, I intend to immediately make good on that commitment,” Pureval said.

Pureval was elected in November to replace term-limited Mayor John Cranley, who appointed Boggs Muething — an accomplished attorney and close friend to Cranley — to the position on an interim basis in July 2020. Council voted to make her the permanent city manager in October of that same year.

A city manager is an appointed municipal official who carries out the administrative and executive duties of a city government. In some municipalities, the position is also known as a chief administrative officer. They oversee the day-to-day operations of the city, hire leadership for various departments and author the city’s proposed budget every year.

In Cincinnati, only the mayor can initiate the process of hiring or firing a permanent city manager. A vote by City Council is required to execute those actions, however.

The new mayor credited Boggs Muething for helping to lead the city through “one of the most challenging times ever faced by Cincinnatians.” He cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrest and dismissal of three elected City Council members and general “uncertainty” at City Hall.

“During her tenure as City Manager, (Boggs Muething) has ensured the continuity of city services and the safety of city employees when people across Cincinnati and America fell ill. She oversaw a massive effort to get people vaccinated and 89,000 doses later, lives have been saved,” the mayor-elect said. “Boggs Muething changed the way constituents interact with City Hall when they have a problem to impart equity and fairness into a process that was vulnerable to corruption and patronage. And when cities across our nation cried out for police reform last year, she did not rest on Cincinnati’s historic reputation, but acted swiftly to achieve monumental discipline reform in a matter of months. With more than a decade of city service, she has served with distinction and undoubtedly made our city a better place.”

Pureval went on to say that the outgoing city manager has been “immensely helpful over the last several weeks to ensure a smooth transition.”

Boggs Muething took over as city manager following the resignation of former City Manager Patrick Duhaney. Duhaney left for a similar job in Virginia Beach, Va.

Prior to her stint as city manager, Boggs Muething served as city solicitor (the city’s top attorney who runs the law department) from 2014 through July 12, 2020. She’s also served as a litigator for the city during her career.

Before coming to the city, Boggs Muething served as general counsel and vice president of Community Revitalization of the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, a county-wide economic development agency. She’s also been an associate at Keating, Muething and Klekamp, PLL (KMK) and a law clerk the Hon. James E. Keller, a judge on the Kentucky Supreme Court.