After four years in her position as Park City Municipal’s community development director, Anne Laurent has taken a job with her former employer in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Park City Community Development Director Anne Laurent says she originally took the job in Park City after she had been with Los Alamos County for seven years.
“My husband and I had always loved Park City," Laurent said. "We visited here, and it wasn't that I was actively trying to get out of Los Alamos, but Park City—we all know. We're here, and we enjoy the lifestyle it provides, and we've enjoyed it and it's been great.”
Laurent will take on the role of public works director for Los Alamos in early November. She’s looking forward to more projects, working on sustainability issues and diversifying her career experience.
“It's never an easy decision, but there was an opportunity," Laurent said. "I've stayed very close with my colleagues back in Los Alamos, and the public works director moved to be the utility manager, and it was just a great opportunity for me to continue my work because when I left, the project oversight of all the capital projects was moved over to public works. I get to help them, and they are on the cusp of some really exciting economic development opportunities.”
Laurent’s position with Park City oversees a number of city divisions, including planning, building and engineering. She put in more than seven weeks’ notice to help staff transition before her last day on Nov. 1, and she thinks the department will be left in good hands.
“We have a very strong community development team, as you know," Laurent said. "Each department has very strong managers. We have a new city engineer starting in November, so we're very excited about that piece of it as well.”
Laurent says she enjoyed working and playing in Park City, and she and her family will continue to recreate here. She views the city’s work around affordable housing and the arts and culture district among the recent accomplishments for the community development department.
“When I started, housing—everyone was saying we aren't building any, and we're certainly building some, so very proud about that," Laurent said. "Very proud of the arts and culture [district]. I know that there's a lot of work that's been done that will become very public and visual soon, and so very proud that we got that to the point where we're very close to having a project that we can move forward into land use developments.”
Interim City Manager Matt Dias says the city will conduct a needs assessment before starting a recruitment process for the community development director position. He says Park City Municipal is grateful for Laurent’s leadership and project management skills over the past four years.
