experience

Certified Manager – International City-County Manager’s Association

Full Rewrite Town of Paonia Municipal Code

Interim Town Administrator – Town of Poncha Springs, Colorado

Interim Town Administrator – Town of Paonia, Colorado

Organized detailed action plan to repair and replace spring water collection system, water and sewer system lines, storage, as well as meet emergency moratorium on water tap sales requirements.
Assisted in obtaining millions of dollars in grants and loans for water and sewer system.
Reorganized staff, filled vacant positions, managed solutions for significant financial system problems, and improved staff morale.
Brought down benefit costs by making changes in providers.
Dealt with flooding, sewer line collapse, and water treatment plant failure.
Worked closely with the Board of Trustees and Town Attorney to improve staff relations, reform governmental structure and processes to best practice.

Grant Writer for the City of Cripple Creek, City of Victor, and Forest Lake Metropolitan District

Interim Town Administrator – Town of Crestone, Colorado

Worked to obtain agreement renewal with Baca Water and Sanitation District.
Worked closely with the Board of Trustees to improve staff relations, reform governmental structure and processes to best practice. Addressed significant issues with previous budgets and accounting systems.
Filled vacant positions.
Addressed emergency plan during extreme fire danger season.
Initiated funding to replace two bridges, park improvements, and fire mitigation including the data needed to justify grant funding.

Program Manager – Pima County, Arizona– Grants Management and Innovation Department

Wrote and managed grants for Regional Flood Control District, Parks and Recreation, Community Development, Environmental Quality, Emergency Management, Sustainability and Conservation, Wireless Integrated Network, and for all Public Works Departments including Transportation, Development Services, and Regional Wastewater. COVID 19 response team monitoring funding and new announcements with FEMA and HUD.

Wrote and managed grants for Regional Flood Control District, Parks and Recreation, Community Development, Environmental Quality, Emergency Management, Sustainability and Conservation, Wireless Integrated Network, and for all Public Works Departments including Transportation, Development Services, and Regional Wastewater. COVID 19 response team monitoring funding and new announcements with FEMA and HUD.

County Manager – Gilpin County, Colorado

Worked with staff to improve morale problems.
Worked with the Board of Supervisors to create their first yearly retreat, goal setting, and yearly work plan process.
Worked with state investigators regarding concerns about a department receiving the majority of its funding from the Federal and State governments and resolved issues.
Reorganized Public Works Department to increase accountability and interactions with other departments.
Initiated and managed the hiring of architectural consultants to evaluate existing jail, human services, public health, and justice center and recommend renovation/addition or new center.

City Administrator – City of Walsenburg, Colorado

Turned a dysfunctional and deficient Finance Department around, produced first budget narrative, revamped chart of accounts so that expenses could be tracked, brought allocations between enterprise and government funds into legal compliance, wrote City’s first financial policies.
Addressed the City’s several serious CDPHE compliance orders after decades of failure to comply. Working with CWCB, obtained significant financial assistance to prepare for a $6.8 million loan to rebuild City’s pre-treated water storage facility with a failing dam.
Improved staff morale and problem-solving skills by allowing managers and department heads to supervise their employees, bringing in City of Denver’s (Brian Elm) Peak Performance training, DOLA facilitators to determine the source of staff issues, and recognizing staff accomplishments through Facebook, email list and city newsletter.
Started good news City Newsletter mailed out in utility bills, Facebook page, revamped City Website to celebrate Walsenburg’s unique history and provide information about City work, staff, and elected officials – all very popular with the community.
Wrote grants to fund infrastructure studies, economic analysis, downtown, and strategic planning to prepare the City for growth by identifying what they needed to think of when negotiating major developments (infrastructure extensions and sizes, access, permitting).
Assisted County in gaining community support for Judicial Center new construction. Community had significant opposition because there was no citizen input. Arranged joint facilitated workshops to explain the project and have participants suggest what would make the project work for them. District Court Judge and others participated, and a compromise was reached.
Hosted Dick Farley (designer of Larimer Square, Denver) and Civitas in a charrette that yielded a unique and artistic streetscape concept capturing Walsenburg’s gritty history and charm, topped with whirly gigs that show off its considerable wind power.
Dissolved police department after successful initiative election to force the City to contract with County Sheriff for law enforcement.

Town Manager – Town of Lake City, Colorado

Planned and financed a $2.8 million water treatment and distribution upgrade and replacement project to achieve compliance and release of a water quality “failure to filter” violation.
Negotiated a natural filtration study and leak repair plan to determine if the Town could continue to use bank filtration instead of the requirement to construct a $2 million water treatment plant. Over a year of testing yielded successful results. The Town is the first community in Colorado to receive certification for bank filtration.
Financed ($900,000) (through grants and donations) renovations and addition to 1883 “Armory” Town Hall and Community Center, including restrooms, commercial kitchen, extensive upgrading to electrical and gas utilities, as well as conversion to Leeds Gold heating and weatherization.
Completely restructured the Town’s financial and budgeting practices to Colorado best practices, including internal controls, providing monthly financial statements, and a transparent accounting system.

Past Consulting Jobs:

Managed 4-year entitlement process for visitor core of Mammoth Lakes Ski Resort for Canadian-based resort development firm from 2005 to 2009. Included three corners of the main intersection of the Town of Mammoth lakes, three flag hotels, residential, visitor commercial, public gathering space, and transportation connections. General Plan and Zoning Amendment, EIR for density and height increases and setback decreases. Worked with nationally renowned designers, economists, and transportation engineers. (Project not built due to financial crash of Great Recession)
Financing plan for La Plata County General Plan implementation
City of Gunnison, Colorado – New Planned Unit Development Ordinance. Processed annexation and zoning of a 582-acre tract w/585 residential units, 375 short-term accommodation units, 180,000 s.f. commercial and 425,000 s.f. industrial development proposed.
Town of Basalt – New sign code, noise ordinance, and various development reviews.
Town of Telluride and San Miguel County – Comprehensive Plan, including major transportation planning component and multiple county build-out scenarios. Plan focused on development of remaining major properties through public/private development agreements.
Town of Crested Butte – Housing Impact fee.
Program development and facilitation of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns Growth Conference (in Grand Junction), including extensive surveying of member and resort affected governments and analysis of the effects of rapid change and growth on their communities. Work resulted in a plan of action for C.A.S.T.
Facilitated numerous strategic planning sessions, including two rounds of Governor’s Smart Growth Conference in Denver, Colorado, and Leadership Aspen’s Board Retreat.
Contract Interim General Manager for Luba Designs, Inc. San Francisco, CA. Cost containment, human resources, budgeting, financial management, operations, marketing, and staff management. Built new websites and marketing avenues for stores owned by the company, reorganized management and staffing structure to significantly labor costs. Worked with staff to increase productivity and efficiency.
Campaign manager for 9th Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia’s 2012 campaign. Campaign unseated an incumbent.

High Capacity Transit Project Manager – Columbia River Crossing Transit Deputy Project Manager – employing agency: CTRAN, Vancouver, Washington

As part of a bi-state (Oregon and Washington), eight-agency cooperative project, managed Washington-side public decision-making process and planning development of the extension of MAX from Portland into downtown Vancouver, Washington for CTRAN, the public transit agency for the Washington side of the Columbia River. Worked with a group of 12 downtown stakeholders on final alignment, station location and design, and business closure mitigation plan.

Planning Director – Inyo County, California

Long- and short-term planning, maintenance of General Plan, and state-required policy documents.
Administered Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository oversight program for Inyo County focusing on transportation and hydrological impacts; included bi-yearly trips to visit Senators Diane Feinstein & Barbara Boxer and various congressional leaders and committee staff.
Placed the only successful call on bond in the State of California for failure to reclaim an extensive tungsten mine site.
Worked with several Native American Tribal Governments in compliance with state development review consultation requirements.
Worked with Death Valley and Manzanar NPS facilities, USFS, BLM, LADWP, and State of California agencies on various projects.
Chaired interagency committee to identify affordable housing needs, financing mechanisms, and work program.
Worked with the State Office of Planning and Research on the growth management issues of a new town proposed for 32,000 units at the border of Nevada and California, including how to structure the environmental review so that it would not overwhelm County resources.
Managed nine employees, rescued a failing department, and five stalled projects.

Executive Director – Mainstreet Uptown Butte, Montana

Economic development, organization management.

President – Community Trust Institute, Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Non-profit providing educational information and resources to communities experiencing rapid change.

Assistant to the City Manager – Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado

Completed a comprehensive plan and land use code for the Town after another consulting team was dismissed.
Cataloged over 900 Burnt Mountain EIS obligations and established a monitoring/tracking system.
Tracked project management and effectiveness of all Capital Improvements.
Updated leases and negotiate utility and service contracts.
Evaluated Community Development Department organization, performance, personnel, and recommended strategies for improving morale and effectiveness.
Served as Assistant to the City Manager.

Project Manager – Aspen to Snowmass Transportation Project, Colorado

Project Manager of development of a $46 million transit system between Aspen area resort towns and ski bases focused on PM10 Mitigation requirements.
Managed engineering and technical service contracts totaling $450,000 and a total budget of $700,000.
Managed innovative community input and information program (continuous attitude surveys & public opinion monitoring).
Coordinated with FHWA, FTA, and CDOT as well as private investors.
Accomplished a two-year project in seven and a half months.
Directly responsible to managers of three separate governments and seventeen elected officials (Pitkin County, the City of Aspen, and the Town of Snowmass Village).

Community Development Director – City of Glenwood Springs

Department head – planning, building, recreation, economic development, special projects, public information. Managed and supervised seven permanent full-time staff plus part-time employees. Staffed City Council, Planning and Zoning Commission, River Commission. Supervised staff of other City commissions and boards.
Coordinated redevelopment of downtown Glenwood Springs including multi-million-dollar streetscape and riverfront/railroad improvements, retail and business enhancement program, storefront rehabilitation, and revolving loan program planning. Glenwood Springs experienced annual 10%+ sales tax increases for the decade following downtown redevelopment and business enhancement of other commercial areas.
Initiated and implemented special projects including valley-wide commuter bus service/public transit, river trail system, alternate route/bypass implementation & environmental assessment, and low-income housing project.
Lobbied for and successfully secured the only CDBG emergency grant ever granted in the State of Colorado for a water treatment plant rehabilitation. Managed CDBG and other financing contracts for public works projects.
Represented City regionally and state-wide on various boards and committees.
Developed various successful grant proposals for City projects.
Author of a bi-weekly column for the local newspaper, text for promotional insert in “Bicycling” magazine, press releases, public information brochures, and pamphlets regarding various City issues and projects.
Co-Founder of Roaring Fork Forum – an informal coalition of governments consisting of nine municipalities, three counties, and local officials from federal and state agencies in the Roaring Fork Valley and Garfield County. Major Forum projects include launching a regional recycling and solid waste management project, regional transportation planning, and area-wide trail development coordination. Served as Forum Coordinator and co-chair Regional Trails Coordinating Plan.
Conducted analysis of demographic statistics showing relationships between resort towns and surrounding towns that supply commuter labor force. Compiled statistics and analysis of resort area economic and social changes for Colorado Resort communities. Presented findings at various State-wide conferences.
Assisted various manufacturing, technology (stock market information and software service companies), and small businesses in their relocation decisions, including property location, identifying appropriate enterprise zone benefits, impact fee waivers, negotiating favorable development contracts.
Instigated and implemented a valley-wide commuter bus service from Aspen to Glenwood Springs, resulting in transit ridership of 19% of the commuter workforce.
Recruited as an economic development advisor to various cities and towns in western Colorado by the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

Other Work:

Assisted with developing a redevelopment agency plan for flood-blighted area and several major annexations of adjacent urban level development.
Project Landscape Architect for proposed Mineral King Ski Resort for USFS. As USFS Landscape Architect/Planner (Inyo National Forest), developed Mineral King Ski Resort transportation plan, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Interpretative Plan, Lone Pine Visitor Center plan, and various other USFS facility plans. Co-project planner for RARE II inventory. Prepared EIR for RARE II, including nine alternatives.

Education:

California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, B.S. Landscape Architecture
U. C. Irvine, Land Planning Certification Program courses
National University, M.B.A. with an elective emphasis in finance
Creighton University, M.A. – Ministry

Certifications:

International City Managers Association Member, ICMA-CM
Government Finance Officers Association Member, 80 hours of GFOA training in government financial practices

Past affiliations:

Member, American Institute of Certified Planners
Member, American Society of Landscape Architects
Licensed Landscape Architect #2283, State of California
Expert Witness, City Planning, 9th Judicial District, State of Colorado
FEMA Certified Floodplain Manager

Board Directorships and Service:

Community Matters Institute, current Board Member (economic sustainability for small towns)
Colorado Municipal League Research Committee Member
Lake City Health Services District Board Member (special district)
Colorado Downtown Development Board, former member
APAColorado, former Professional Development Chair
Advocate Safehouse Project Board, founding member (domestic violence program)
Butte Symphony Orchestra, Board of Directors
Founding member, Symphony of the Valley, Glenwood Springs, CO

Awards/Accomplishments:

“How to Deal with Rapid Change” presentation at the 1995 Colorado Municipal League’s small-town change workshop was the top-rated by conference participants.
Participant in Heartland Center for Leadership Development Rural-Urban Connection symposiums (think tank).
Extensive mediation and conflict resolution training from CDR Associates. Chief Co- Mediator of a significant dispute between APA Colorado and the University of Colorado, Denver, was successfully resolved.
Conference speaker on citizen participation topics; economic development; downtown enhancement/revitalization; resort town dynamics, demographics, and impacts.

References available upon request