In July, Bayfield’s Board of Trustees appointed John Waters as its new town manager. His hiring came after two failed searches for someone to fill the role.
Waters, who declined to be interviewed for this story, has more than 27 years experience in budgeting and managing local governments and businesses, according to his cover letter and resume, which were obtained by The Durango Herald through a Colorado Open Records Act request.
“My past work with local governments, public utilities, private business, economic development agencies, and environmental consulting has given me a well-rounded understanding of local government management and operations in the west,” Waters wrote in his cover letter.
Bayfield Mayor Tom Au said Waters has been doing a great job since he was hired in April and has been helping progress several big-ticket community projects, such as improving the town’s stormwater management and U.S. Highway 160-East Bayfield Parkway and East Oak Drive alignment project.
“The East Side intersection – that’s moving forward now when it was stagnant” Au said. “We’ll be working on stormwater and that’s been something that’s needed to get done for 20 years. It’s going to take a few years just to build it and put it in, but we’re working on plans for that right now. ... Waters has been pretty helpful in that process.”
Waters has a long list of previous managerial roles that made him stand out in the hiring process, Au said.
Before becoming Bayfield’s town manager, he built a lengthy resume in public service, including 16 years as executive director of the Carlsbad Department of Development, the official economic development agency for Eddy County.
While working with the city of Carlsbad, Waters said he “had a positive working relationship with our local unions and successfully participated in collective bargaining negotiations and meetings with the two Unions that represented my department’s classified employees.”
Before that, he was city manager and city administrator of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, and spent six years as a park ranger with the National Park Service.
Waters also briefly worked as a federal facility representative with the U.S. Department of Energy, overseeing contractors at a nuclear defense facility, but “fell to the DOGE reductions” in early 2025, he wrote in his cover letter.
He also owned and operated Waters Environmental and Business Solutions from 1999 to 2008, an independent business that offered consulting services to local governments and nonprofits.
Waters wrote that his experience working as a civil servant in two growing New Mexico cities would help him and Bayfield succeed.
In April 2025, supplemental questions in Bayfield’s application process asked Waters about his experience managing budgets, water rights and stormwater systems.
He said his experience as a private business owner, head of Carlsbad’s public utilities department, city manager of Ruidoso and executive director of the Carlsbad Department of Development gave him ample experience designing and overseeing multimillion dollar town budgets.
Regarding stormwater and water rights, Waters said he learned about water rights in college and later oversaw all environmental permitting for city operations and projects while serving as environmental services manager in Carlsbad.
He was also asked to describe a time he faced a difficult leadership challenge. He said that as division director of Carlsbad’s utilities department, he implemented a program for entry-level water and wastewater employees to earn EPA-required certifications. Despite initial skepticism from union members, management and city council, participants ultimately became certified and the program proved successful.
“A final testament to the program’s success in awakening a need to become better educated and improve themselves, one of the employees that started out as a meter reader in the water department that I supervised, eventually was promoted to City Administrator before he retired,” Waters said.
During Waters’ first performance review, Au said the town board thought he was doing a great job.
“Everybody on the board at that time said he was doing a fine job, and they were really appreciative of him and the work that he was doing,” he said.
In his cover letter, Waters said he wanted to live in a community where he could put his experience to work and highlighted the commitment he had shown in each of his previous roles.
“As supported by my experience, when a community takes a chance on me, I prove to be a loyal and committed employee and valuable community leader for years to come,” he said. “It is my goal to help you, as elected officials, fulfill your community’s priorities and vision for the future.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
