City prepares for Dooley retirement

By Lyndsie Ferrell
CREEDE— During the work session held by the City of Creede on July 17, board members spoke with Town Attorney Karen Lintott about the hiring process for a replacement for long-time manager Clyde Dooley. Dooley has served as the town’s manager for several years and will be retiring later this fall.
Dooley has agreed to help train the new manager prior to retirement and board members want to start the process early in order to allow for training time.
Lintott explained to the board that BCG Consulting Group would be willing to help with the hiring process and would come to speak to the board about the proposal pro-bono. Board members expressed concern about the cost of hiring a firm to complete the process, not wanting to spend an exponential amount of money, if the process could be done in house.
“I just don’t think that we should spend this amount of money on a hiring firm if we could possibly save it and hire in-house,” said Trustee Frank Freer. Other board members agreed with Freer, stating that it was possible to complete the process utilizing community resources to hire a new manager.
“One of my main concerns is having to go through the background and references for applicants, only because of the time it takes to complete that task,” said Trustee Teresa Wall.
“This is one of, if not the most important things this board will do, aside from the flume project, for the community. We need to do this to the best of our ability,” added Trustee Lori Dooley
Board members opened a discussion about possibly reaching out to the school board for recommendations on how to complete the process in the most efficient way possible. The school recently went through a similar process while seeking a new superintendent and may have some insight that would help the city with their search.
“I think we should also write a letter and send it out to all Colorado communities asking for applicants. We can send it to other cities and towns, asking if anyone is interested or if they have anyone in mind that would be interested and attach the job description. We have one thing going for us and that is that Clyde is retiring after several years of service. He is not quitting or getting fired so that is a strength,” continued Wall.
The city has already completed a job description for the position and have a clear idea of the type of applicants they are searching for. “I think we need to come up with a plan and a standard list of preliminary questions for the applicants and then decide whether or not to hire a firm after we speak to them,” stated Freer.
The board directed Lintott to reach out to BCG Consulting Group and invite them to come and speak with them during their next scheduled meeting on Aug. 7. Once the firm has come and made their presentation, board members will then decide whether to do the hiring process themselves or hire the firm.
The board hopes to have someone in place within a 12 to 15-week timeframe.


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