The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 applicants with Skype…
The town posted the opening for the new town manager position on its website Friday, January 4. Similar Internet postings were placed with various professional organizations. By the Sunday, January 27 deadline, 99 applications had been received, four of them from local candidates.
That list will be culled to 30 people next week by the Town Council’s human resources subcommittee. The whole council will then jump into the fray and bring the field down to 10 people who will be interviewed in person or via Skype. Five finalists will then be selected and finally one lone survivor will be offered the job at the end of the ski season. Names are being withheld until there are five or fewer finalists.
But before that, the council is holding an informal “coffee with the council” on Monday, February 11 from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Bacchanale to let members of the public give the council some feedback on what they want in a town manager. The council will listen to public input and then adjourn to discuss the group of 30 applicants. A council retreat with the staff will be held February 22 to, among other things, talk about the town manager search
The council held a day-long “retreat” on Tuesday, January 8 to discuss qualities they want to see in the final candidates. They have also budgeted about $8,500 for the search process.
Ideally, they want to have the bulk of the interview process out of the way by the end of the ski season. The council compiled a lengthy list of “characteristics” they require and prefer in a candidate.
Aside from the expected ability to manage a staff and communicate effectively with employees and the public, the desires included experience with a number of elements, including ski area impacts, historic preservation, affordable housing, economic development, and snow. They want someone with a passion for lifestyle and community, knowledge of laws and codes and an understanding that the job is more than full-time.
Oh, and the candidate should also be open minded, intelligent, street smart and politically savvy.
The council hopes to make an offer to one of the nifty 99 by April 15.
