Fire chief considering city manager position

Fire Chief Stacey Giomi said Thursday he might be interested in Carson City’s permanent city manager position, and names have surfaced of candidates hoping to become temporary manager.

Giomi, with the city three decades, wasn’t prepared to commit fully to the quest to replace City Manager Larry Werner. In October, Werner announced his resignation effective Dec. 19, creating the opening.

“I might have an interest in doing that,” Giomi said, adding it depends on what the Board of Supervisors is looking for, as well as personal considerations. Giomi said his 30th anniversary of public service comes Nov. 25, prompting various thoughts. “All of those things, quite honestly, are in my head.”

Giomi began in 1980 as a volunteer firefighter, then after employment a few years later rose through ranks to eventually become chief. He has two bachelor’s degrees, one in public administration and the other in fire prevention technology. Deputy City Manager Marena Works has yet to say if she is interested in either position.

The board has determined it will conduct a national search that could include locals, but won’t consider anyone serving as interim city manager while that search to fill the permanent post is under way.

Search firms will be interviewed for the headhunter role at a special board meeting starting at noon Tuesday in the Community Center.

Two people outside city government have sent in letters of interest in the interim position, but no one from city staff had yet done so by mid-day on Thursday.

Human Resources Director Melanie Bruketta said she would accept letters of interest until the regular Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday, which also will be in the Community Center’s Sierra Room.

That day the session will begin at 8:30 a.m., but Bruketta’s item dealing with the interim post is near the end of the agenda.

The pair already seeking interim appointment are Robert L. Van Nort of Gardnerville, who has city management experience, and Tom Stone of Genoa, who has public and private sector experience. Van Nort’s overture reached Human Resources via contact through Mayor Robert Crowell, Stone’s via contact with Supervisor Jim Shirk.

Van Nort included background information showing three decades of experience in city management, including both as an interim and as a permanent municipal administrator.

He also cited experience as a treasurer, in law enforcement and as director of a redevelopment agency. The background includes public sector city or town management roles in California and Idaho.

Stone’s background data includes nearly two years as deputy director of the Nevada Rural Housing Authority, several months as county administrative officer in Lassen County, Calif., and eight years on the Eagle County’s Board of County Commissioners in Colorado, among other things. He cited extensive private sector experience, much of it real estate-related.