By Bill Knowles
TRINIDAD — Over the past month the Las Animas County Commission has been searching for a County Administrator to fill the seat created by the exit of Pricilla “Pete” Fraser.
In a Thursday morning meeting at the Courthouse the Commissioners chose two candidates out of a field of four that would be interviewed following Tuesday’s Commission meeting.
The two candidates are Tara Marshall, the Director of Development Services for the City of Trinidad, a position she’s held over the past 3-years. During that time, she has help shepherd a start-up industry through a changing legal landscape to a place where the City’s tax coffers have been fattened from marijuana sales tax revenues. She has also helped usher in the Space to Create project, a first for any rural Colorado city. And she has helped get the La Puerta project on firmer ground with the City of Trinidad through diligence and an understanding of the legal and fiscal necessities that govern such enterprises.
Prior to that she interned as a City Manager for two-years. She also spent 4-years as the Colorado Welcome Center manager in Trinidad from 2011-2015.
Phil Dorenkamp has worked for Las Animas County for 18-and-a-half years in Road and Bridge. He also spent eight-and-a-half years working in the private sector as a business owner.
He has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.
Mr. Dorenkamp’s understanding of the infrastructure in Las Animas County and knowledge of engineering has served the county well, bringing in several million dollars in grants that have been used to improve the county road system.
The County Commission will meet in an executive session to discuss the two candidates at the end of Tuesday’s County Commission meeting starting a 9 a.m. in the Courthouse, second floor, in the County Commission Chambers.
