DONNA DETTLING…Dettling, who is retiring with 30 years of Ohio public service in February 2025, served the Village of Archbold as Assistant Village Administrator from 1995-2001 and as Village Administrator since 2015.
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
amy@thevillagereporter.com
With over 30 years of service in public administration, Defiance native Donna Dettling plans to hand over the reins as Archbold’s Village Administrator later this year.
Donna’s career has always been centered on public service, beginning in 1985 when she took her first position with the City of Defiance. She served as an administrative assistant and worked on payroll and finance for the municipality, a role she held for around ten years.
“That opportunity in Defiance kind of – it just happened. I mean, I really hadn’t been settled knowing what I was going to do. But it started to click as it evolved and I enjoyed it more and more,” recalls Dettling.
Donna’s experience inspired her to pursue a bachelor’s degree with a focus on public administration. Armed with a formal education in her newfound passion, Donna continued to look for career opportunities to help her grow professionally.
In 1995, Dettling found an ideal position as the Assistant Village Administrator in Archbold, working under former village administrators Joe Duff and later Dennis Howell. The experience she gained during her initial tenure at Archbold instilled in her the skills needed to manage a village independently.
Another opportunity then presented itself in 2001 by way of an administrative position in Dexter, Michigan where Dettling ultimately served as the city administrator. While she thoroughly enjoyed the experience, she describes her position in Dexter as very “eye-opening,” and she gained valuable insights into the inner workings of running a municipality.
While serving in Michigan, she had the opportunity to further her education by pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at Eastern Michigan University. However, as Donna put it, “life happens,” and she chose not to complete her degree despite being close to finishing. Donna, who already holds a bachelor’s degree, decided to withdraw from the program due to personal obligations at the time.
Looking back, she has no regrets about not taking her education further. According to Donna, her studies were always relevant and impactful to her community work and she felt that she already had the necessary knowledge and tools needed for a successful career. Ultimately, she believed that putting the additional time and money toward a degree would not significantly impact her career and she took that time instead to focus on other priorities.
After 14 years serving Dexter, Michigan, she found herself led to return to her home state to put her public administration knowledge to work. In 2015, Dettling briefly held a post as the Village Administrator in North Baltimore before receiving an opportunity to return to Archbold to serve once again as the Assistant Village Administrator under VA Dennis Howell. It was planned for Dettling to transition into the Village Administrator role upon Howell’s impending retirement.
Under the leadership of Mayor Jeff Fryman, Dettling took on the role of Village Administrator following Howell’s departure. She credits much of her success to the knowledge gained from Howell as well as the 14 years spent working in Dexter where her experience offered her valuable perspective.
Upon her return to Archbold, Donna knew she would be serving the village only until she accrued enough years to retire from the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System (OPERS). With this in mind, she jumped right in and focused on strategies to help build a strong foundation for the future of the village.
While Donna’s tenure at Archbold was rewarding, it was not without its challenges.
“I think one of the biggest challenges and actually issues had to do with trying to right the ship with some financing needs,” recalled Donna.
Donna played an instrumental role in the initiative to raise the village income tax, which had not been adjusted for over 20 years. The effort proved rewarding, and its successful implementation was crucial in preserving the village’s General Fund and also enabled essential improvements to the village’s police department.
“So that’s a huge accomplishment,” Donna added.
As Donna’s retirement approached, the village got to work on a transition plan in 2023. Village Planning Director and Zoning Inspector Aaron Alt was appointed as Assistant Village Administrator on July 3, 2023, with the intent that he’d take over the role of Village Administrator upon her retirement.
“We decided to appoint Aaron, Village Administrator effective September 1, 2024, to give him an opportunity to oversee the 2025 Budget process. I will serve in an Administrative advisory role from September 1, 2024, through February 28, 2025, which is my earliest eligible retirement date. I’m looking forward to taking on this advisory role and working with the Administrator to button up loose ends,” Donna noted.
Thus far, the transition has been “amazing,” with Donna sharing that Alt is “ready to go.”
“I am extremely proud of this young man who is going to take over and all of the awesome things that he’s going to do in the future,” Donna shared.
Overall, Donna feels fortunate to have left a good mark within the Archbold community and feels even better about leaving the post that she enjoys to someone like Alt who will be “able to hit the ground running.”
As she approaches retirement, Donna looks forward to spending more time with her husband Donald “Duckey,” who has been retired for a year, and also their 10-year-old black and tan dachshund, Bailey.
With the newfound free time, the couple plans to work on renovating their home in Michigan on North Lake which is located about a half hour from Ann Arbor between Dexter and Chelsea.
The Dettlings have also been on the hunt for the perfect RV and plan to spend more quality time traveling around the United States when they are not at their home base in Michigan.
“We’re both really anxious for me to be home and you know—just do our own thing.”
While Donna is looking forward to the new chapter she is about to write, she will miss serving the Village of Archbold.
“For me, the bittersweet thing is there are so many cool things that are happening here that Aarons is going to get to be a part of. And I won’t—and that’s okay. But it’s really great to know that it’s being left in such capable hands.”
“It has been a privilege and honor to serve the Mayor and Council these past nine years as Archbold’s Village Administrator as well as work with an incredible group of employees and elected officials.”