MANSFIELD — Kenneth Arthur on Thursday offered his own unique views after 36 years of work in the Richland County Building Department.
“If we do our job, nothing (bad) happens,” the county’s chief building official said during a Richland County Board of Commissioners meeting.
The words of wisdom didn’t stop there from Arthur, a Mansfield native who is retiring after more than three decades in the department tasked with enforcing code requirements and regulating the construction of buildings and structures within its jurisdiction.
“We might be a speed bump sometimes, but we try not to be a roadblock,” the 1975 Mansfield Senior High School graduate said.
“We’re not out to make lives miserable. We’re out to make things safe.”
Arthur worked as a contractor before joining the department in September 1989.
How did Arthur make the move from builder to building inspector?
“I was a contractor, mostly residential, but I did some non-residential or commercial jobs,” the county’s chief building official for the last 20 years said.
“A friend of mine was elected as commissioner, and (a building inspector) position became available. He told me about it and said, ‘Hey, maybe you want to try this.’
“So I thought, ‘OK, I’ll get a paid vacation out of it or maybe a sick day off or something,'” he said with a laugh.
“It was quite a cut in pay, but I stuck with it and it’s been a good run,” Arthur said with a smile.
Arthur said the county building department had “a lot of catching up to do” when he began working there.
“A lot of things had kind of like been lax, so just grooming the contractors and the builders, (letting them know) we’re not out to make their life miserable, we’re out to make things safe. So we did a lot of mentoring and training of them,” he said.
“The (state) building codes have actually gotten more stringent. As that evolves, we work with the contractors.
“I think the one thing that helps a lot is to leave your ego at home. Say, ‘Hey, we need this … the code is requiring this because of this safety measure.’ Once it makes sense to the contractors, they’re less likely to resist,” Arthur said.
Commissioner Tony Vero referred to the retiring building official as “King” Arthur.
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with you, but we know you’ll be around,” Vero said.
Commissioner Cliff Mears said, “We got your number.”
Steve Risser, the department director who will also take over as chief building official when Arthur departs, joined Arthur at Thursday’s meeting.
Risser, who returned to the county building department in 2023 after five years as a building official with the Ohio Department of Commerce in Columbus, said reduced activity in the office has allowed him to reduce staffing levels.
The Richland County Building Department had been contracted to do work in Wyandot, Seneca and Huron counties. It previously worked in Ashland.
“There’s some territory we used to cover that we don’t anymore. It’s a reduction in activity, not so much doing more with less. We have less activity, so we’re trying to also live within our means,” Risser said.
The Lexington resident plans to meet with commissioners next week to talk about new software that will help the building department work more efficiently.
“From a high level, it will provide a better online application (and provide a better) experience for both customers and our staff that will automate some things,” Risser said.
“It will better facilitate submission of electronic plans and return of those electronic plans to customers. Commercially, we’re probably at least 80 to 85% electronic plans now. So it will facilitate the document transmission and the handling of those documents a lot better.
“It will allow for online scheduling of inspections, so all our inspections will move from paper tickets to an online system,” Risser added.