Weylin Ryan has always found La Plata County to be a hard place to leave. He grew up in Bayfield, and after attending college in Indiana, quickly found his way back to Southwest Colorado.
After wearing several hats in various community service-oriented roles, he became Ignacio’s town manager Jan. 12, taking the reins from Mark Garcia after he retired. He said his life-long love of the places and people that make Ignacio special are what inspire him most in his new role.
“I grew up in Boy Scouts, so I was taught that you have to give back through community service,” Ryan said. “(Becoming town manager) is another way to give back to another community that I care deeply about and have fond memories growing up in.”
In the handful of weeks since he started the job, he said it has been a whirlwind learning the ropes, from making sure the town is properly staffed or making sure utilities like sewer and gas are accessible to residents.
He is excited to be town manager and for what the future holds for the community.
“I really do some exciting stuff,” Ryan said. “I work with the town to look at the future, what growth looks like or ask, ‘Do we want growth?’”
He worked various other jobs with deep ties to the area. His first job was rowing clients down rivers as a raft guide for Mountain Waters. After college and finding his way back to La Plata County, he worked for the Southern Ute Tribe for nine years before working for Visit Durango in 2022.
Ryan said sustainable community development is important – he earned a master’s degree in sustainable tourism in the time between working with the tribe and Visit Durango. His experience there is something he feels will help in his new role, he said.
“My role at Visit Durango was to build up the sustainable tourism department and a lot of the environmental and social programs that we implemented,” Ryan said. “That was building on more of the management experience, and a lot of that was very community-focused – getting out and having conversations with people, and having a hard conversation sometimes.”
Garnering community input on just how to grow a community is important, he said. Some of those hard conversations include how to provide more affordable housing to the town and gauging locals’ thoughts on tourism.
“Do we want more tourism? What does that look like?” Ryan said. “Who are leading those conversations, who are at those tables to have those conversations?”
The sentiment of those who live in Ignacio must be central to any work done in Ignacio, Ryan said. He added that the diverse, caring community in Ignacio will make those conversations productive.
“The people here are amazing, and they’re resilient, and they just are hard workers,” Ryan said. “Ignacio is a tri-ethnic community. We have tribal members, we have the Hispanic population. I’d say Mark Garcia and the work that he did alongside the town board has really shaped up and fixed a lot of the issues. So I’m walking into a really strong organization.”
Ryan pointed to the recent headway on the Rock Creek Housing Development, aided by Garcia and Ignacio Mayor Clark Craig, as a prime example of how Ignacio is growing in a positive way. The project, which has already added several affordable, energy-efficient homes for low-income community members, will help people stay in Ignacio and contribute to the town’s economy.
“That project, in particular, shows the strength of this community,” he said. “(Craig and Garcia) have got a lot of momentum. I’m hoping we can carry that.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
