Then there were two.
The town of Camp Verde held an informal meet-and-greet with Carla Reece and Miranda Fisher, the two finalists for the position of town manager, at the Camp Verde Community Library on the evening of Thursday, April 4.
The applicant pool for the position, which comes with an annual salary between $141,587 and $205,301, started with 58 candidates, who were then whittled down to four finalists, including former Cottonwood City Manager Scotty Douglass. Camp Verde announced in a press release on Tuesday, April 2, that Douglass had withdrawn from the interview process; no reason was stated for his withdrawal. Charles “Chad” Morris, another finalist, withdrew from consideration after accepting a position with the city of Milton-Freewater, Ore.
Priority
Both of the finalists said that implementing the town’s strategic plan would be their biggest priority in the position.
“The strategic plan has an action plan,” Fisher said. “But what I noted is that the action plan still has pretty lofty goals, they have to be broken down, there has to be more bite-sized pieces, more tangible pieces of how do you take [for an] example the tourism advisory board, how do you actually make that happen? What are the steps that you take to get there? And so I’d like to take that action plan and build out additional metrics for how we get there and make those things a reality.”
“I’ve looked at their year one actions that they have planned, so I want to come in, be able to associate with the different department directors and understand whether they have the right resources to complete these goals,” Reece said.
Reece added that she would need to do further evaluation in order to elaborate on specific departmental needs.
Born in Prescott and raised in Bagdad in western Yavapai County, Reece has a master’s degree in public policy and a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from American Military University, and has held a number of public administration positions in cities throughout southern Arizona over the last 30 years, including serving as deputy town clerk in Cave Creek, city clerk in Tempe and Litchfield Park, public safety communications manager in Casa Grande and district administrator for the Northwest Fire District, as well as positions in Tucson.
Fisher is currently the town and zoning administrator for the town of Nederland, Colo.
“Different title [but it’s] the same as the town manager,” Fisher said. She explained that her professional goal has been to return to the area after starting her bachelor’s degree at Northern Arizona University. “Unfortunately, due to some medical things that family members were navigating, [I] had to move back to Colorado to support my family.”
Fisher holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Colorado State University, a master’s degree in public administration from Pennsylvania State College and a doctorate in public administration from California Baptist University. She was previously deputy town administrator in Nederland and regional director at Aacres Nevada LLC in Las Vegas.
While she is not originally from Northern Arizona, Fisher said that the area “does feel like home,” and that parallels between Camp Verde and her present position in Nederland have prepared her for the potential position.
“You’re also facing a lot of similar things to Nederland,” Fisher said.“Whether it’s housing or land use, how to grow while also maintaining your character and really keeping the culture here, it’s all the same, maybe geographically different. While Nederland on paper is 1,500 [residents], we actually support a large community of 6,000 to 7,000 because Nederrland has the schools and the medical [facilities] and the grocery stores … On paper, it may look like a big shift, but I really feel like I’ve prided myself both in that experience and then all of my [certifications] and just the kind of the work to be able to come here.”
Reece said her local connections were one of her strengths. “I’ve been in Yavapai County; born and raised, and I have several family members that live in the area,” Reece said. “Camp Verde has always been attractive … I’m also familiar with and have a great love for [the area] from being raised in the area fishing in the Verde River. This opportunity just came [at] the right time, and I just felt I felt compelled to apply.”
Before the meet-and-greet the two finalists went on a tour of Camp Verde and did a panel interview with city departmental directors, to be followed by an interview with town council on Friday morning.
“The council has options on how to proceed following the interviews, so there isn’t a set expectation [on a timeline],” Acting Town Manager Gayle Mabery said. “That said, if they end up making a job offer, they may be able to announce that early next week.”
