The town of Mancos has narrowed their search for a new town administrator down to three finalists. The search committee who has gone through all the resumes and applications is comprised of Trustees Perry D. Lewis, Todd Kearns, Chip Tuthill, Reneata Collins and Mayor Rachael Marchbanks.
The three finalists are Sherri Dugdale, Mark "Mac" Myers and Andrea Phillips. Dugdale lives in Mancos and is assistant to the city manager in Durango. Myers is a former district attorney for Montezuma County. Phillips is Budget and Performance Management Specialist for the city of Columbus, Ohio.
The finalists will come to Mancos for their final interview which will be held on Feb. 25. Two panels, made up of town department heads, area town managers, a DOLA representative and the board of trustees, will conduct the interviews.
A citizen and business reception will be held that evening from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mancos Community Center. Everyone is invited to come and meet the finalists and find out more about them. Refreshments are provided.
Mancos area resident Mac Myers retired from law in 2011 after serving as Governor Bill Ritter's appointed District Attorney in the 22nd Judicial District, temporarily filling a vacancy after former DA Jim Wilson's untimely death in 2010. Before accepting Ritter's appointment, Myers worked as a deputy district attorney in Colorado Springs, Breckenridge, and Aspen for ten years before starting his own law firm in Aspen. He later opened a second office in Glenwood Springs. During his seven years in private practice, Myers also served as the Municipal Judge in Basalt, Colo., elected DA in 1996 for the 9th Judicial District and served two terms until 2005. He was in the Cortez DA's office from 2005-2007.
Myers earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and his law degree at the University of Denver College of Law.
"In 2001 my wife, Sheila, and I purchased property about four miles outside of Mancos. We moved down here in 2005 and built our home here. Mancos as well as the mountains and mesas around ti, is an amazing place with so much to offer. It would be a privilege to serve as the town administrator for the town Sheila and I have come to call home," Mac said.
Sherri Dugdale has been the assistant to the city manager of Durango for five years and lives outside of Mancos. She has also worked for the San Juan Basin Health Department and a watershed protection district in Ventura, Calif. She did graduate from Fort Lewis College with a major in anthropology, and is currently working on her Master's Degree in Public Administration. "This position offers me the opportunity to use my skills in the community that I live in," she said.
Andrea Phillips has ten years of experience in the public sector, seven of which has been with the City of Columbus, Ohio. She was with the State of Ohio before that. Her Bachelor's degree in Political Science was earned at the University of Colorado in Boulder and she has a dual Master's Degree in Public Administration and City and Regional Planning from Ohio State University in Columbus. She enjoyed living in Colorado during her time in Boulder.
"I love the outdoors and recreational opportunities and scenery of Southwest Colorado and appreciate the lifestyle of living in a small town," she said. "I grew up in a village of 4,000 people."
Phillips is married with no children and looks forward to meeting the trustees and mayor and seeing the town of Mancos soon.