Main Street director top candidate for Genoa Town Manager

Genoans top pick to be their next town manager was Gardnerville Main Street Executive Director Matt Bruback.

Bruback’s event planning experience was cited Monday by all of the Town Board members who interviewed candidates on Monday to replace Town Manager JT Chevallier.

Coming in second place was Douglas County Administrative Services Manager Natalie Wood, with Gardnerville Town Maintenance Supervisor Ethan Gray as the third candidate.

A committee consisting of town board members Linda Birdwell and Gordon Pasley, along with legal counsel Mike Rowe, will negotiate with Bruback on salary and conditions of employment.

Birdwell said she felt the committee could meet in the next week to work out the details.

No background check will be conducted until the town has made an offer.

“Of the three, Matt seems to the be best from my point of view,” Board member R. Alex Alexander said.

“I really think Matt is the guy who will roll his sleeves up, jump in and get the job done,” Pasley said. “If a tree falls down, we don’t always have the opportunity to call a tree company. JT is out there to get that tree out of there. I think Matt would be the overall best fit.”

Birdwell said Bruback’s experience with Gardnerville was an important point in his favor.

“Matt definitely brings events experience,” Birdwell said. “Certainly, nothing as large as Candy Dance, but who comes into this role with that one in their back pocket? (I’m impressed with) what he’s done with the businesses and volunteers. For Genoa, those are our two stakeholders in our town. Those relationships are key.”

The town manager’s position is the main coordinator for the annual Candy Dance fundraiser, held the last weekend in September.

Genoans have been raising the majority of the money to support the town’s operation and preservation for more than a century.

Last year’s Candy Dance was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Before the Genoa Town Manager’s position was established in 2002, a town secretary provided administrative support for the board and a volunteer served as chair of the event.

Early in the 21^st Century, responsibilities for managing the event were included in the manager’s job description.

Bruback came to Gardnerville in July 2019 from Florida, and currently resides in Dayton.

He is the third person to serve as director of Gardnerville’s Main Street program, the oldest in the state of Nevada.

He has coordinated several events, including Gardnerville’s Thursday Wine Walk, Wreaths Across America at Garden Cemetery and the Harvest Festival at Heritage Park.

Gardnerville Town Manager Erik Nilssen credited Bruback for moving the Farmers Market from Lampe Park to Heritage Park.

Four of the five town board members ranked Bruback as the top candidate, with Birdwell ranking Wood first.

“Overall, I like Matt, he has a good personality and good energy,” Town Chairman Steve Shively said. “Genoa understanding the problems is understanding how you can get to the solutions to the problems.”