AURORA — The city plans to name George “Skip” Noe as its new manager, replacing Ron Miller, who retired earlier this year.
Noe, a management consultant from Corpus Christi, Texas, and interim City Manager Nancy Freed were the two finalists.
“It’s an honor to be selected,” Noe said. “It’s an outstanding opportunity.”
Noe must now negotiate a contract with the city before accepting the position. The City Council will formally announce the selection at a meeting Monday. His start date has not yet been set.
Noe, who is married with three adult children and two adult stepchildren, said going into the job that managing the $615 million budget will be the city’s most pressing challenge.
He said Aurora has a number of things going for it, including the growing Anschutz Medical Campus.
“Health care is one of those things that has high economic impact,” he said. “You want to make sure you maximize that value to the community.”
Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer lauded Noe for his leadership and said he will be a good match to guide the city’s staff.
“I think that he has a strong record of experience and energy, and I think he will be a real asset to the people of Aurora,” Tauer said.
Noe was city manager and deputy city manager for Corpus Christi between 1999 and 2008.
He oversaw 3,300 employees there and managed an annual budget of more than $500 million. He also worked for the city of Fort Collins and for the Texas cities of San Antonio, College Station and Kingsville.
In Corpus Christi, Noe ran into controversy over the discovery of E. coli in the city’s water and the time it took to give boil orders to the public. There also were questions as to who knew what and when, Noe said.
Two executive staff staff members in the water department were relieved of their duties. An investigation cleared Noe.
A year later, Noe said, his evaluation was coming up, and he had some difficult times with several council members, so he decided to step down.
There also was some controversy surrounding Aurora’s city-manager selection process.
The Colorado Press Association challenged the city, saying it violated the state’s sunshine law because it interviewed the final five finalists behind closed doors, and they weren’t current employees. Later, it was learned that Freed was the only current employee to make the final five.
Cities are allowed to go into executive sessions to discuss personnel issues, but state law says that when three finalists are chosen, the city must make their names public.
Freed, who was out of town and could not be reached for comment, will resume her deputy city manager position once Noe is in place.
“I want to say thanks to Nancy,” Tauer said. “Nancy has been terrific, especially since we went through a tough and difficult budget process. All the council appreciates her work and her professionalism.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
