After two failed searches for Bayfield town manager, the third has proved successful.
The Board of Trustees named John Waters as town manager last week after contract negotiations were finalized.
“It was a long process, longer than anticipated,” said Bayfield Mayor Tom Au. “We can move forward now.”
Waters is coming from Carlsbad, New Mexico, where he had recently started working as a facility representative for the U.S. Department of Energy, but he was a casualty of the mass reduction of probationary federal employees enacted by the Department of Government Efficiency earlier in the year.
Waters spent almost seven years as city manager for Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, which he said had a lot in common with Bayfield.
“In my past, I've managed a community very similar in size to Bayfield in Central New Mexico, and a lot of the same challenges that are up in the Bayfield area, I've had an opportunity to work with and work on in another community,” Waters said.
He added that those similarities are what initially drew him to the position, along with the climate and the plethora of opportunities to get outside.
Additionally, Waters has extensive experience in municipal governance and economic development. He spent 16 years in economic development for southeastern New Mexico, working with counties and cities to recruit businesses, develop workforces and improve infrastructure.
Waters explained that his main philosophy as town manager will be listening to residents.
“That’s how a city manager or a town manager works,” he said. “We don't make the rules. We just make it possible.”
Bayfield is hoping to address some of it’s infrastructure projects in the next year, which Waters said he is looking forward to digging into.
“I may have already contacted some folks up in the state Capital to see how we could get some of the issues resolved,” Waters said. “But I’m pretty aggressive with what I do. When I get a problem laid before me by a local governing board, I like to get out there and get it solved as soon as possible and move on to the next challenge ‒ so really excited about doing that with Bayfield.”
Waters and finalist Stephen Proud from Durango met with community members at an open meet-and-greet on June 20 prior to the town board’s final decision.
Both candidates were well-qualified and would have done an excellent job, Au said, adding that Waters was offered the job largely because he clicked better with the board.
Waters will start in mid-August.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
