Megan Graham, county spokeswoman, said commissioners will vote whether to appoint Assistant County Manager Chuck Stevens as interim manager at the Dec. 11 board meeting.<\/p>\n
Stevens\u2019 role as interim manager would take effect Jan. 3.<\/p>\n
Then, the search is on.<\/p>\n
Graham said the search will be nationwide, then there will be a review of the candidates, who will go through an extensive interview process with commissioners, as well as other leaders in the county.<\/p>\n
At some point in the new year, a public reception will be held for finalists, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a multi-phased search,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n The goal is to have someone selected as quickly as possible, but Graham said there\u2019s not a scheduled date for when the county plans to hire a new manager.<\/p>\n Should commissioners appoint Stevens to serve as interim manager, it will help keep the flow of county operations, Graham said. Stevens was named assistant manager in October 2017<\/a> and has been with the county since 2015.<\/p>\n Before coming to La Plata County, Stevens served for 25 years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a senior leader.<\/p>\n \u201cContinuity would exist to allow for the search process to unfold,\u201d Graham said. \u201cBut at the same time, we don\u2019t want to have a void for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Spina, 62, had planned to retire at the end of 2017, when she was serving as assistant county manager.<\/p>\n But when then-County Manager Joe Kerby announced in June 2017<\/a> that he was leaving to take a job in Oregon, Spina stepped up to help the county with the transition.<\/p>\n Spina moved to Southwest Colorado in 1985<\/a> and, ever since, has worked at some level of La Plata County government.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a little nostalgic about it,\u201d Spina said. \u201cLa Plata County is my home, and it has been a tremendous privilege for me to serve the citizens here for the last 30 years. Not often does a person have the ability to do that level of service in their own home.\u201d<\/p>\n