Supervisors question hiring process after project manager job filled by out-of-state candidate

La Paz County supervisors discussed the project manager job description and hiring process during their Nov. 3 meeting after one supervisor raised concerns that the selected candidate lives out of state and that the job author benefited from the hiring.

Cheryl said the job description and the funding mechanism had been approved by the prior administration and that the current recruitment produced six applicants, four interviews and a selection based on scoring. "We ended up with six applicants... we had four that we were able to interview... and we picked the highest scoring individual," she told the board.

Supervisor Irwin and others said they were upset about the process, noting the job was created earlier and that local applicants had been among those who applied. Irwin asked whether the position requires travel and whether the county will pay for flights to complete "boots on the ground" work if the employee lives out of state.

The county administrator said the job was part of a broader effort to clear backlogged projects and that a project manager could deliver long-standing items such as short-term rental revenue reviews and coordination with the Department of Revenue. Several supervisors said they supported the position but remained concerned about transparency in recruitment and whether the board should see certain hiring decisions for county-overseen departments.

No changes to the job description or funding were made during the meeting; staff said the job description had already been approved and that any changes would return to the board for formal action.

What happens next: staff will continue with the hiring process under the approved job description; supervisors asked for clearer communication about recruitments and candidate selections in the future.