“It has been a different kind of hectic these past few months,” said the new Washington Court House City Services Director Ron Sockman.

Sockman’s title is a bit deceiving. It is one department with five different offices. Sockman oversees the city water, street, sewer, cemetery and water distribution services.

With seven months as the service director under his belt, Sockman has been faced with getting up to speed on the sewer project and has had to deal with four inches of rain in a two-hour period.

It has been a real learning curve. “However,” said Sockman, “the residents of this city do not want to hear about my learning curve. They want their water and sewer systems in working order every day.”

Sockman previously worked for the City of Washington Court House for 18 years as a police officer.

“It was a good living, but I was always drawn to management. I earned by masters in business administration from Tiffin University in April 2016. When Steve Heath (former city services director) announced his retirement, I applied for the position. Steve was a fantastic administrator and he left me a great group of guys. Their job know-how allows me to focus on what I need to do as administrator.”

Sockman is looking not only at making sure his superintendents are training their crews, but that they are preparing the next group of employees in line to be ready to step up to the next level of management.

“The city is looking at a lot of turnover due to retirement in the next few years. We need to be ready to move up trained, experienced, licensed employees that are ready to go. Again, our residents don’t want to know about the problems, they want their services in working order right now. Our name says our job…we serve the residents of this city.”

If you have questions about any of these city services, you may reach Sockman by calling 740-636-2380 or you may visit the office located at 220 Park Ave. in Washington C.H.