Hilliard City Manager Michelle Crandall announced May 27 that she will be resigning from her position, with her last day being July 25.
Crandall will leave Hilliard after five years and seven months of service as City Manager to become the Chief Member Services Officer for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
Crandall is Hilliard’s first city manager to be hired in the City’s history, following a November 2018 voter-approved charter amendment that changed the City’s form of government from Mayor-Council to the Council-Manager form. She began her service with the City of Hilliard in January 2020 and since this time has overseen several key initiatives and accomplishments.
Under Crandall’s leadership and with the guidance of City Council, Hilliard has reimaged its Downtown into a vibrant destination, received a Aaa bond rating for 5 years in a row, delivered a successful ballot initiative to increase the City’s income tax rate from 2% to 2.5% for recreation and parks, designed & constructed a 150-acre $107 million recreation and wellness campus that includes a medically-integrated community center, created Hilliard City Lab as a one-of-a-kind ecosystem for high-tech startups, developed a 10-year Comprehensive Plan update, redefined environmental standards in the Big Darby to better focus on open space preservation, and achieved an 84% increase in income tax revenue.
Over the past 5 years, thoughtful planning and strategic economic development efforts have led to the transformation of the City’s I-270 corridor, with the construction of the TruePointe mixed-use development, retention and expansion of Advanced Drainage Systems & ECO Plumbers, and attraction of numerous other companies, such as Forsee Power. In both 2023 and 2024, the City of Hilliard was named a Top7 Intelligent Community by the Intelligent Community Forum and the Best Suburb to Do Business by Columbus CEO. In 2025, Fast Company named Hilliard among the World’s Most Innovative Companies in the category of economic development.
“Hilliard is an amazing community with an incredibly talented, innovative, and dedicated team of city employees. I am proud of all we have accomplished together during my time here,” Crandall said. “I leave here knowing that we have co-created a culture that honors the ideas, contributions and talents of all of our staff members and that results in exceptional services and safety services for all of our community members.”
“Working with Michelle has been an honor. She transformed the environment for our Hilliard city staff into a collaborative and supportive workplace that fosters creativity and values-based teamwork. The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the role of a City Council Member was a lightness in the air and a willingness to help, and this came through Ms. Crandall and radiated out to the entire Hilliard team,” Hilliard City Council President Tina Cottone said.
President Cottone further commented that “for the past 3.5 years I have watched Ms. Crandall navigate complex situations with strength, grace, and calm. It takes courage, and a strong sense of self, to weather some of the storms that I’ve seen in our Council Chamber. Ms. Crandall will always be my role model for “calm under pressure. Personally, I will miss working with Ms. Crandall and am grateful for all I have learned from her.”
“Leaving this team of dedicated public servants was an extremely difficult decision, but the opportunity to work for ICMA in this new role was one I could not let go. Being able to give back to a profession and a professional organization that has given so much to me throughout my career is a true honor and a privilege,” Crandall said.
“ICMA is fortunate to have an engaged and committed ICMA Member joining us as the organization’s first Chief Member Services Officer. This position, and Michelle’s hiring, is an expression of our commitment to providing programs and services valued by our members. It is fitting that someone who has spent their career dedicated to providing exceptional local government services would end their direct service in the profession by joining the professional organization committed to supporting professional local government, globally. I cannot wait for her to join us in July,” said Julia Novak, ICMA CEO/Executive Director said.
