PRESS RELEASE
Finalists Announced for Open City Manager Position
Interviews take place August 8 and are open to the community
Contact: Alissa Farrell, HR Director/Interim Assistant City Manager, 970-920-5743 or alissa.farrell@cityofaspen.com
Aspen, CO – August 1, 2019 – Aspen City Council has narrowed the search for a new City Manager from 64 applicants to four final candidates. The finalists will take part in a public presentation exercise to City Council on Thursday, August 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. in City Council Chambers. The public is invited to attend as observers and can provide feedback via comment cards. The presentation exercise will also be televised on CGTV Channel 11, the City of Aspen website, City of Aspen Facebook page and will be available for replay for those who cannot watch live.
The final candidates include:
Sara Ott - Interim Aspen City Manager
Robb Etnyre - General Manager/CEO of Tahoe Donner, Lake Tahoe, CA
Blair King – City Manager, Coronado, CA
Katherine Lewis – Senior City Attorney, Salt Lake City Corporation, UT
“The qualities we saw in these candidates exemplified high level managerial skills paired with a cultural understanding of the Aspen area because of their past experience with resort towns,” said Mayor Torre. “The Council was impressed with the energy and initiative that these four candidates possessed with regard to progressive thinking, energy, and initiative for our dynamic community.”
For the August 8 presentation exercise for Council, each candidate will have 20-minutes to offer a prepared presentation to Council related to the Aspen Area Community Plan.
The public can attend the presentation in Council Chambers or watch in real-time or later and provide feedback to newcm@cityofaspen.com. The deadline for comments is Sunday, August 11 at 5pm. If the public would rather submit comments in person, a drop-off box will be located in City Hall at the finance desk from 8am-5 p.m. August 8 and 9.
In addition, there is a public meet and greet with all four candidates on Thursday, August 8 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the Aspen Police Department Community Room on the 2nd Floor.
On Friday, August 9 City Council will hold an executive session all day to interview all four candidates with an executive session for discussion to follow.
The original profile for the job, including desired qualities in the top candidate, was created with City Council, staff, and community input garnered via email, community meetings, and dedicated listening sessions with the public in May.
“We’re looking forward to the comprehensive interview process next week as we continue to strive to make the process as transparent and as thorough as possible. We’re excited to welcome each finalist to Aspen to meet our community, employees, and City Council,” said Alissa Farrell, HR Director/Interim Assistant City Manager.
Updates on the recruitment process, schedule for the interviews, and candidate bios can be found on the city manager’s page on www.cityofaspen.com.
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