Mt. Lebanon’s new planner and assistant manager is Ian McMeans.
McMeans, who holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon’s H. John Heinz III College, School of Public Policy and Management, comes to Mt. Lebanon from Homestead, where he has been borough manager since 2011. He also served briefly as assistant manager in Dormont.
While in Homestead, McMeans had the opportunity to gain a very comprehensive experience of municipal government.
“Homestead is almost exactly 1/10 the size of Mt. Lebanon,” he says. “It’s 0.6 square miles, has about 3,000 people and has a budget of about $4 million. We had a very small staff, and I was kind of a jack of all trades.”
McMeans was responsible for all of the budgeting, all of the finance and also wrote grants and secured funding that totaled about $1 million during his four-and-a-half year tenure.
“This was too good an opportunity to pass up,” he says. “To work in the town I live in is a dream come true.”
McMeans lives on Folkstone Drive with his wife, Silica, and three sons, Alisdair, 5; Eamon, 3; and Ciaran, 8 months.