The three finalists for Ouray city administrator run the gamut in terms of their work experience.
One is a career law enforcement officer. Another is a current administrator in a Colorado mountain town that, like Ouray, depends heavily on tourism. The third is a former city manager who has spent his career working in or with local governments in the Midwest.
Those finalists — Daric Harvey, Michelle Metteer and Michael Reese — will be in Ouray today (Thursday) and Friday to tour city facilities, meet local residents and interview with three panels.
Harvey most recently served on the Colorado State Board of Parole from 2020 to 2023. The board evaluates and manages the potential for incarcerated people to be released from state prison early. Prior to that, he spent 24 years as a police officer, including from 2017 to 2020 as the police chief in Canon City and as a commander with the Vail Police Department from 2012 to 2017. He was a finalist for the Steamboat Springs police chief job last year.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from the Columbia College of Missouri and a master’s degree in criminology from Florida State University.
Metteer has 15 years of municipal government experience, all with the town of Minturn in Eagle County. She has served as the town administrator since 2018, a job to which she was promoted after previously serving as the economic development director, special events coordinator and deputy town clerk.
Metteer holds a bachelor’s degree in or- ganizational leadership from Colorado State University Global, an accredited online college.
Reese was most recently the city manager in Maplewood, Missouri, a roughly 8,300-resident suburb of St. Louis. He served in that job for two years, resigning abruptly in September 2023. Public documents show he received nearly $160,000 in severance payments in exchange for agreeing not to file a lawsuit against the city. The reasons for Reese’s resignation have not been made public.
Prior to that, Reese served four years as the director of local government affairs for a law firm in Columbus, Ohio, and 18 years in a variety of roles for the city of Columbus, including eight years as the chief of staff for the mayor.
Reese was a finalist for the city manager job in Golden Valley, Minnesota, earlier this summer.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and government from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in political science from Bowling Green State University.
The three finalists will tour city facilities this morning, have lunch with city staff in the afternoon and meet the public during a community reception from 5-7 p.m. at the Ouray Community Center, 320 Sixth Ave. Citizens will have the chance to fill out comment cards anonymously.
Harvey, Metteer and Reese will then interview with three different panels on Friday. The panels will consist of city councilors, city staff and a group of other city managers and community professionals.
The city paid executive search firm KRW Associates $19,500 to lead a nationwide search to replace City Administrator Silas Clarke, who announced his resignation in July after nearly four years on the job. KRW received 21 applications, then narrowed the field to eight and conducted online interviews with them. City councilors then reviewed those interviews and picked three finalists.
