Acting Park City Manager Matt Dias intends to hire two deputy city managers, filling his former position and that of the community development director.
Acting Park City Manager Matt Dias, whom the city council will vote to permanently appoint in January, is looking to bring on a pair of deputy city managers. Dias vacated his role as assistant city manager when he became interim city manager, after the city terminated former City Manager Diane Foster’s employment in October. The second position is a reclassification of the community development director, which oversaw the city planning, building and engineering departments. Former Community Development Director Anne Laurent left that role at the beginning of November for another job.
Through the two deputy city manager positions, Dias says he hopes to create a more efficient and effective organization that will help implement the city’s priorities. One manager’s responsibilities will reflect that of the old community development director.
“My goal is to have two deputy city managers and have one sort of focusing on the external aspects of our organization," Dias said. "I've alluded to some of them about partnerships, negotiating with outside entities—they will focus on the community development or quadrant of our organization.”
The other position, Dias says, will focus on administrative management at the city.
“My intent is to have the other deputy focus on internal affairs, or sort of the internal administration of the city," Dias said. "Payroll and purchasing and contracts, financial management.”
Dias says he’ll continue to oversee the city’s legislative affairs, with the 2020 Utah Legislature convening in January. Dias will also work on day-to-day affairs and regional partnerships, as well as running the Leadership Park City program with Myles Rademan. He says connecting with community members through the Leadership program is important to him as city manager.
“I want to make sure that on a day-to-day basis I'm interacting with the public, and I am part of a program where I receive unfettered feedback—good, bad or indifferent," Dias said. "The leadership program is a wonderful learning and growing experience and has kept me humble all along and kept me really, really connected to people in our school district, people in the recreation district, all sorts of members of the Wasatch Back.”
The position change from community development director to deputy city manager is cost-neutral, Dias says.
Dias hopes to get job postings up for the two deputy manager positions by the start of the New Year. He encourages internal and external applicants to apply.
