Mayor

Gerard Neugebauer began his second four-year term as the seventh mayor of Green on January 1, 2020. Most recently he served as an at-Large council member from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2015. Prior to his service on council, he served as a member on a number of City boards and commissions.

Education & Family

A graduate of The University of Akron with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, he previously worked as an Engineering Projects Manager for Environmental Design Group in Akron.

A native of Akron, Gerard and his wife Maria have resided in Green since 1987. They have three grown children - Patrick, Stephen and Rachel - and three grandchildren.

Programs & Initiatives Spearheaded by Mayor Neugebauer

Boards

  • Vice Chair, Summit ReWorks Board of Trustees
    • Chair, Summit ReWorks, Building & Facilities Committee
  • Chair, AMATS, 2023 Policy Committee
  • Member, API, RP1185 Public Engagement Committee

Mayor Neugebauer welcomes comments and suggestions from residents and the business community.

  • In 2022, our largest source of revenue, income tax, increased by $2.3 million, to $29.3 million, an 8.7% increase over 2021.
  • After our income taxes decreased by 5.3% in 2020, we rebounded from COVI
  • In 2022, other revenue was $16.4 million, which was a slight decrease from 2021, largely due to the timing of grant funding. Other revenue income of note included:
    • The second and final payment from the America Rescue Plan of $1.36 million
    • $32,000 in opioid settlement funds from multiple sources, the first of annual payments to be dispensed to the city over the next 17 years
  • In 2022, our operating expenses were $35.9 million, including $4.4 million in debt service. $11.1 million was spent on capital projects including road resurfacing, park projects, Massillon Road south infrastructure project, the Arlington/Greensburg Roundabout, and new equipment for our fire and service divisions.
  • By controlling our operating expenses and balancing our capital spending, we finished the year with $23.5 million in our general fund, allowing us to maintain a $20 million operating reserve through 2023.
  • In May 2022, voters approved a 37-year, $68 million bond issue to modernize our school buildings.  New elementary and middle schools will replace three schools -- Greenwood, Green Intermediate, and Green Middle, all 50 years or older. 
  • The Community Courts, a facility that would provide additional activity space for our community and serve as gym space for the new Middle School, was a concept that emerged as our school board worked to determine how much funding would be needed to fund our new schools.  Everyone involved wanted to ensure the levy provided sufficient funding to build modern, quality educational space, but also very mindful to not overburden our taxpayers.  Even with the new tax levy, Green has the lowest property taxes in Summit County. 
  • With the City building the gym, plus extra courts, a turf practice field, studio space for fitness classes and an indoor walking track, our entire community benefits -- not just families with school–aged children.
  • The Greensburg/Arlington Road roundabout opened in late October.     
  • The first season of the Massillon Road South infrastructure improvement project began. Unfortunately, the project started slowly due to material supply issues.  As a result, the project completion date will likely move from the Fall to spring 2024. 
  • The City was awarded $2.6 million in safety funds to improve the intersection of Arlington Road and Mount Pleasant Rd. This intersection, the site of several motor vehicle fatalities through the years, did have a higher rate of accidents and more severe accidents than was originally reported by AMATS, because the intersection straddles Summit and Stark Counties.  By combining data from the two counties, we were able to secure federal safety funds to upgrade this intersection in 2025. 
  • In 2022, we had two existing Green businesses move forward with the construction of new offices.  Ragon Chiropractic opened its new offices on Arlington Road. Direction Home, our local area agency on aging, is expanding in Green with the construction of a 35,000-sf office building on Town Park Blvd.  
  • We continue to see growth in single-family subdivisions including Spring Hill, Brier Creek, Forest Lakes, New Seasons, and Jacob’s Ridge.  
  • Led by Chief Jeff Funai, our Fire Division responded to just over 5,000 calls for service in 2022, an average of 13.8 per day, and about the same volume as in 2021.  
  • In 2022, our fire division took delivery of our new aerial platform to replace our 25-year-old ladder truck.  The newer truck has better turning and breaking capabilities, and the ladder extends to 100 ft -- 25ft more reach than our previous truck.  The $1.4 Million purchase was supported in part by $421,000 from our NEXUS settlement fund.
  • We added two new Deputies, Bobby Bowen, the handler, and Nero, the K-9 deputy.  Nero is trained for multiple patrol-related services including narcotics searches, article searches, human searches-and-tracking; and aggression control.
  • At Boettler Park, we finished resurfacing and added lighting on our Pickleball and Tennis Courts.
  • We added two new flag football fields at Ariss Park to consolidate all our youth football activities – flag, tackle, and cheer in one location.  This frees up space in Greensburg Park to build two more youth baseball fields.  
  • Our Drug Task Force led the effort to establish a Mindful Walk along existing trails within Southgate Park. The 10-station guided walk, paid for through a Summit County ADM Board grant, encourages mental wellness by practicing mindfulness.
  • Our Park Ambassador program expanded to 30 volunteers. 
  • Bob Bussey, one of our park ambassadors, was awarded Volunteer of the Year for his service to Green.
  • In 2022, Green’s Knit for the Needy group made and donated more than 1,200 items (hats, gloves, mittens, blankets and more) to Green Good Neighbors.