PAGOSA SPRINGS, CO (Covering Katy News)—Fired Fulshear City Manager Jack Harper has resurfaced as an interim county manager in Colorado, and he's getting off to a rocky start.
According to the Pagosa Daily Post, Harper's first day on the job in Archuleta County was Monday. The Post reports that Harper got the position without an in-person interview, and one of the commissioners was not allowed time to speak with Harper before the vote to hire him.
Commissioners reportedly were quick to hire a replacement for a county manager they'd recently fired and relied on the recommendation of a local former community development corporation manager that Harper was the right guy for the job.
The vote to hire him was 2 to 1. None of the three county commissioners met with Harper face-to-face before hiring him, and the commissioner who was left out of the process voted no.
The population was Archuleta County was 13,359 when the census was done in 2020. Pagosa Springs is the county seat and its the only incorporated municipality.
Bill Hudson, Pagosa Daily Post
Interim County Manager Jack Harper, far right, meeting with the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners on May 21, 2024. Commissioner Warren Brown, far left, voted against hiring Harper.
The City of Fulshear remains secretive about why Harper was abruptly shown the door last February, but comments from the mayor on the night he was terminated provided some insight.
"The most important factor at this moment is that the public and staff understand that retaliation of any sort will not be tolerated when a member of staff or the public brings a complaint to the city," Mayor Aaron Groff said.
Two Covering Katy sources said Harper wasn't showing up for work, causing the staff to become frustrated that he wasn't around to provide direction.
Fulshear's secrecy may be helping Harper's job search because he's getting interest from more than just one dysfunctional Board of Commissioners in Colorado. Harper was one of three finalists for the town manager's position in Orono, Maine, the home of the University of Maine's flagship campus. Earlier this week, the Orono Town Council hired one of the other candidates, as the process in Maine was very different than what's happening in Colorado.
In Orono, the town council interviewed all of the candidates, gave them a tour of the town, and held a community meet-and-greet where residents were allowed to ask questions of the three finalists and were encouraged to provide feedback to the town council.
"It was important to us that they [the candidates] get a sense that this is really the right fit for them," Orono Town Council Chair Dan Demeritt told WABI TV. "So much of a municipal leadership job is not just the job itself but the community you are helping build, and that's what we are looking for in our next town manager," he said.
The new town manager in Orono begins with a foundation of familiarity, not something Harper has in Pagosa Springs.