Clarkdale Town Manager Susan Guthrie will be leaving her position on Monday, April 6, and starting as the CEO of Spectrum Healthcare the following day.
Her last day is the town’s budget work session “since I put together the budget with our finance director, and I feel like I need to be there to shepherd that through. Then I think the town will be on solid ground.”
After resigning as town manager on March 12 at a special town council meeting, Guthrie will be succeeded by Assistant Town Manager Lou Andersen, who was selected as her replacement.
“Guthrie brings more than 30 years of executive experience spanning health care, higher education, Fortune 500 organizations, and government at both the local and national levels,” according to a Spectrum press release. “Guthrie holds a master of public administration and completed advanced executive training through Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Spectrum Healthcare has experienced
significant growth and transition in recent years, expanding its services across Arizona. The board identified the need for a proven, strategic leader to guide the organization through its next phase of growth and stability.”
Reflecting on her tenure with the town, which began in December 2021, Guthrie pointed to several accomplishments
“We more than doubled our capital position over four years,” she said. “We improved productivity, we improved processes. We went from basically no grant revenue to applying for over $47 million in grant revenue. We implemented key performance indicators, the establishment of a 20- year capital improvement plan and the completion of master plans for water and wastewater infrastructure.”
The Spectrum board of directors made the hiring announcement on Monday, March 23, after doing a nationwide search, and Spectrum Board President Randy Taylor — who is also Clarkdale’s police chief — said Guthrie was the unanimous choice.
“She worked in the health care industry before, so she brings that experience and she also has a strong track record of turning agencies around,” Taylor said. “She was very well rounded and came out clearly on top, even against some very strong, well-qualified competition.”
Guthrie is also engaged to Doug Von Gausig, Clarkdale’s mayor from 2004 to 2020.
“We’ve been very focused on [his personal health] recovery and his treatment and renovating our house and a lot of other things,” she said.
