Farewell, Hanwell: Medina’s longest-serving mayor reflects on service, faith, community

On Nov. 20, the eve of lighting the town’s Christmas tree for his last time as mayor, Dennis Hanwell sat, hands folded, behind his orderly desk, clad in one of his signature American flag neckties and flanked by portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Taking occasional glances out the window of his southeast corner city hall office overlooking West Friendship Street, Hanwell – ever the stoic – relaxed a bit and relished in some nostalgia offered by his departure from office Dec. 31 after four terms.

“You think back on things like that, yes sir,” Hanwell, 69, said of getting one more chance to throw the switch on the gazebo’s big fir before a crowd of thousands. “My last Memorial Day parade, things like that. I drove the lead car as a sergeant for two years, five as lieutenant, 13 as the chief, then rode in the lead car for the last 16.”

All parades pass, however, and holiday lights come down. Nevertheless, Hanwell rarely missed a beat in showing up for civic ceremonial gigs, acknowledging it’s not only part of the pageantry expected of a mayor, but typically how a mayor is perceived by their constituents.

At city hall, Hanwell has preached and practiced that every interaction a city worker has with a resident – even when it’s often just fielding complaints – should be treated with compassion, respect and a cool head.

Finish line clear in sight, the mayor talks about his legacy with comfort. He is confident he is leaving Medina in a better place than when he first clocked in as a rookie patrolman in 1983, proud to have helmed a model municipal organization, and humbled he could help make Medina more inclusive.

“I think the best term would be ‘a servant leader,’” Hanwell said when asked how he hopes to be remembered. “There’s nothing that I don’t do. If I need to mop the floor, if I need to take out the trash, if I need to shovel sidewalks, I’ll do it. It displays two things. Not only am I asking everyone to chip in, but they see me doing the same.”

Dennis Hanwell grew up in Brunswick immersed in neighborly service as the son of Robert and Nancy Hanwell, who helped found Brunswick Reformed Church. Dennis’ older brother, Bob Hanwell, became a respected local attorney.

“I got to watch how everybody’s talents were used,” Mayor Hanwell said of church life. “That instilled in me: find the best people, put together a team, help others.”

He graduated from then “Akron U.” with an associate’s degree in criminal justice at the age of 20, leading to a brief stint in the private manufacturing sector – only because he had to be 21 to carry a firearm. Police work was always the goal.

But his foray into law enforcement came with challenges. Hanwell, an insulin-dependent type 1 diabetic since age 5, was turned away by multiple departments. Only in Medina, Police Chief Chuck Davis and Mayor Bill Lamb OK’d the hire if Hanwell secured a doctor’s note.

“I took a 40 percent pay cut going from private manufacturing to law enforcement … (wife) Chris’ dad thought I lost my mind, and by the way, she’s six months pregnant with our son Jon,” he said. “From that point, I made a commitment to the people of Medina.”

Hanwell said patrol officers in the early `80s were yet to make wages that were “a bit more respectable” until collective bargaining kicked in shortly after he started. He rose through the ranks and was appointed chief in 1996.

“Then in 2009 … I said, ‘hey, what do you think about me resigning as police chief and taking a chance at being elected mayor, and by the way, it’s another 40 percent pay cut? ‘(Chris) said, ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’” Hanwell recalled with a big laugh.

A political career was never the plan, but when Mayor Jane Leaver decided not to seek re-election in 2009, and with political outsider candidate and experienced businessman Rick Greenberg’s “new era” campaign potentially leading to a mass exodus of department heads, “somebody needed to stand up for them.”

“I am not going to let that happen,” said Hanwell. “I was civil service protected, so mayors would come and go … but it was going to break my heart to watch all these coworkers pack up their stuff and say goodbye to them.”

The former Chief Hanwell won with nearly 78 percent of the vote. No one dared challenge his ensuing three re-election bids, making him the longest-serving mayor in Medina’s history.

Hanwell’s leadership style has never been about issuing orders from the corner office but about building a culture where every employee understands they are part of the same mission – and understands the mission itself.

“It’s the same goal: Trying to provide efficient, effective services at as low a taxpayer cost as you possibly can,” he said. “Their loyalty is illustrated through the operations here running so smooth. They have good trust and respect … that I am right there with them.”

Hanwell’s people-first, faith-focused approach carried him through four terms, nearly a generation to hone his well-defined municipal management culture: cross-training departments, sharing information, collaborative problem-solving, and what he described as hundreds of “eyes and ears” looking out for issues every day.

For Hanwell, though, efficiency means nothing without a human touch. He believes behind every permit pull, phone call or service request stands a real person who might be having a bad day and is simply trying to navigate an unfamiliar process.

“If that was your family member on the other side – your parents, your elderly grandparents – how would you want them to be treated?” he said. “If we have to take a little extra time, if we have to sit down at the table and go over and fill out forms with them, that’s fine.”

With Medina’s mayor doubling as safety director, Hanwell also helped reshape how neighboring communities handled police and fire coverage. Under his watch, Medina absorbed dispatch services for Medina and Montville township police departments and later took over policing in Lafayette Township.

Fire service followed a similar path as Medina – with its long-standing partnership covering Montville – absorbed Medina Township fire coverage. MFD eventually moved to 24-7 staffing for the first time. The arrangement, built predominantly upon younger, part-time personnel, allowed three jurisdictions to share costs while improving response times – a structure Hanwell said, based on internal research, is one of a kind in the U.S.

Another significant action was the shift to same-day and next-day city permitting. The idea came to him after watching a mother at the city hall counter one June morning, in tow with two excited kids in bathing suits, as she applied for a backyard pool permit.

“The law gives us 30 days,” he recalled, “but I thought, if we take the whole month, then she calls the contractor, then they schedule it… by the time the pool is filled, it’s September.”

Ever since, the building department has cut turnaround times in many cases, something Hanwell said he is pleased contractors have recognized.

“When you do it for one person, they tell other people, ‘This is where you want to be doing your business,’” he said. “What kind of model (could we put together) so people would want to live here, do business here and improve their businesses here? That’s really worked for me.”

One of the most defining moments of Hanwell’s career came from the city’s reckoning with the national pain of George Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Like many communities throughout the U.S., Medina held five demonstrations in three days – no arrests, no incidents.

This was not by accident.

Multiple times, Hanwell had been invited to be keynote speaker for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day service hosted by Pastor Arthur A. Ruffin and Second Baptist Church on the city’s near west side – a gesture to which Hanwell jokingly responded, “You know I’m not Black, right?”

“(Ruffin) said, ‘I do – and this isn’t just a Black holiday.’”

That exchange opened the door to deeper conversations, some televised on local cable access between Ruffin, Hanwell, Police Chief Ed Kinney and clergy officials. Those talks often led back to Dr. King’s concept of the Beloved Community: people working together, supporting one another, breaking down barriers for each other.

So, when Ruffin approached him about hosting a downtown demonstration, Hanwell listened – even when his cop instincts signaled worry.

“(Ruffin) said, ‘What these people need is to express some of that anger – whether that’s chanting, singing, carrying a sign. If we don’t let them release that emotion, it’s going to happen somehow. I’d rather we have it here in this controlled environment.’”

Hanwell agreed, and when Ruffin asked him to lead the march, the mayor insisted it would mean more if Ruffin walked alongside Chief Kinney. Hanwell joined just behind them with the Rev. Dawan Buie of Warrensville Heights – both pairs linked at their arms.

“The governor’s office called and wanted to know how we did it,” Hanwell said. “They said, ‘You’re the only place in Ohio that had five demonstrations and not a single incident or arrest.’”

The success was by design: clear expectations, open dialogue and trust built before emotions ran too high.

Broader cultural understanding initiatives have since grown at city hall, including its partnership in Juneteenth celebrations – now one of the square’s biggest annual events – along with historical signage at the 1841 courthouse honoring local abolitionists and Medina’s role in the Underground Railroad.

Dismayed by hearing reports from Black residents who said they didn’t feel the square was “for them,” Hanwell said, “we need to change that.”

“If that was your son or daughter who didn’t feel comfortable enough to go to the square, how would you feel?” he said. “I want all the people of Medina to know they are part of this community.”

During this last term, Hanwell has kept on his desk, among other things, two manila folders. One is a compilation of notes he has kept for the next mayor, former councilman Jim Shields.

“Jim mentored me my first eight years. He’s very educated … very willing to hear every detail before making a decision and very open to listen to people,” Hanwell said of the candidate he publicly endorsed. “I think Jim will run things much the same as I have.”

The other, fatter folder contains material for what will become the mayor’s first book.

“Chris bought me a brand-new laptop,” he said. “My hope and prayer is to write a book about drawing diverse groups together, collaboration and working as a team.”

Hanwell carries no regrets about the path he chose or the decisions he made along the way. He’s proud to have delivered on his campaign promise of not raising taxes, to have always worn his faith on his sleeve and to have given his life’s work to the city that gave him a chance when others wouldn’t.

“I thank the residents for having the faith in me and putting the city in my hands,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it immensely. It’s been quite a ride.”

Next on the mayoral agenda? Decompressing in Florida with Chris, spending time with kids Jon and Nicole, and fishing with grandkids Madison and Aiden.