Feature Article and Photos By Larry H. Oskin
Groveland’s City Manager Michael Hein has successfully helped Groveland achieve prestigious local and national attention with teamwork and creative leadership.
Originally an orphaned child from Milwaukee, he was fostered and then adopted by a low-income blue-collar family that shared love, inspiration, and common-sense ideals. He was faced with numerous family challenges, some homeless experiences and poverty.
Even though Michael had no long-term goals nor any ambition to enter college, his best friends suggested it would be fun for all of them to go to a state university. Money was a big obstacle but a friendly teacher helped to pay for his college application fees. After being accepted with a low-income support scholarship grant, he went to register for college. While standing in line, the boy next to him asked what he planned to major in. Hein didn’t even know what a major was, so he asked. When the other boy said he was going to major in Political Science, Hein said,” OK, I’ll try that too!” He worked very hard and proceeded to achieve a 4-year Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.
After graduation, he traveled by plane for the first time to Arizona with all his personal belongings and $20. Today, Hein holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Stevens Point, Wisconsin and a Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He proudly holds other government study certifications and diplomas from Harvard University JFK School and in Economic Development from the National Development Council.
After college, he began to professionally work for a series of city governments in the Tucson area. Most roles were related to high-profile positions such as the Director of Community and Economic Development, Director of Planning and Zoning, City Finance Director, Assistant City Administrator, Assistant Town Manager, Town Manager and as a Deputy County Commissioner. He was hired as the City Manager of Tucson, Arizona for 4 years before becoming the Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
Hein’s first wife passed away from cancer. He later remarried and they relocated to Florida five years ago to pursue career change opportunities. Hein said he actually moved to Florida to support his wife’s career path as Executive Director of the Sarasota Art Museum with Ringling College in Sarasota. He took on the role of assistant town manager of Longboat Key.
Hein was first introduced to Groveland by an executive head hunter in 2017 He researched Groveland’s history and discovered a unique community with many challenges.
When he first visited the city, he immediately loved the landscape, the rolling hills, the climate and the people. He saw that the city had very old and tired facilities with little to no training and support for the government employees. However, all of the people he met were very proud of Groveland and the services they were providing to the public.
He fell in love with Groveland. Hein notes, “I was searching for a new place for a better quality of life and a place where I could be the best me. I found it all here in Groveland! I was quite inspired by the optimism and possibilities in Groveland”. Hein saw that he had the opportunity to make a positive impact on the growth and well-being of the city and when he was immediately offered a position as an Interim City Manager of Groveland to test the waters for at least 3 months. He said, “yes”! He has since become Groveland’s City Manager.
In March 2018, Hein explained to the Mayor and City Council that they had all of the puzzle pieces, yet they still needed to discover and put together the big picture. They all began to work together to create challenging objectives and realistic goals. With the positive pressures of quick growth and the need for a new Master Plan, they rebranded the city with a new slogan, “Groveland – A City of Natural Charm!” They all wanted to protect the natural landscape, while developing progressive new codes and guidelines to properly plan positive new growth. Together they examined what they had and what they really needed to improve. They knew that they had to redevelop the Highway 50 Route for traffic. They needed to invest in planning for storms, weather challenges, safe water supply, utilities, parking, recreation and many needed community services.
Michael Hein shares, “I am a long-term thinking public servant. I want our Master Plan to help us all succeed long after I am here. We need to create responsible land use and development utilizing a healthy mixture of our natural open spaces while providing superior economic growth and opportunities.” Groveland has annexed over 1000 acres, which in turn will bring in over one million dollars in new tax revenues. With a downtown revitalization in the works, many new businesses opening and companies like Kroger-Ocado coming here to Groveland with their safe Internet-based food distribution center, we really do have a lot to look forward to.
The Master Plan and branding of the City of Groveland maintains and preserves Groveland’s lands, lakes, community and economic development for years to come. Groveland is already planning and executing their long-term plans to make Downtown Groveland as polished, positive and successful as possible.
Hein proudly describes the city’s plans and accomplishments, “We plan to maintain and improve our parks and recreational areas with a new development code. We are creating a new mixed-use agricultural community and want to develop our much-needed Groveland arts and cultural programs. The dedication on the new public safety facility to house community development with the fire and police departments will be held on Founder’s Day, March 2021. We recently opened our third Groveland fire station with a supportive grant to help us hire 12 new firefighters. I know a lot of our work is seemingly invisible, yet all of our plans are poised and geared to help us not only catch up, but to get a head start on our success-oriented future.
With help from a fifty-million-dollar Florida state grant for land acquisition, Route 50 will soon safely circumvent and protect the downtown area. Olive Isle is open and in the works for the remarkable investment and creation of a new farm to table community resource, headed by Keith Keough, a world-renown chef from Groveland”.
Today, Michael Hein supervises all day-to-day City of Groveland operations, management and municipal services. Their new Master Plan is in the works. The new Highway 50 bypass is expected to become a reality in two years when Groveland Centennial is celebrated in March 2022.
Under his leadership, they are busily working together on development of strategic planning workshops to achieve short, medium and long-term goals.Groveland is proud of its diverse history, resources, services, residents, businesses and future plans.
When Michael Hein was asked about the Groveland City Mission and Motto, he replied, “They are both important! With Groveland’s motto, we must always harmonize and align our community resources, land development, people, economics and assets with each other. Our slogan describes that our arts, culture and organizations must all work together. Hein is very grateful to the City Mayor, the City Council and the Groveland residents for their positive support. He adds, “Our growing Groveland recognition continues to help our long-term success story.”
