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Sawyer D\u2019Argonne \/ sdargonne@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Chad Bird<\/strong><\/p>\n Chad Bird was the first to speak. Bird currently works as the city manager for Decorah, Iowa \u2014 a college town of about 8,100 \u2014 where he\u2019s served for the past eight years. Though he\u2019s been in municipal government for about 20 years.<\/p>\n Bird said he got his start working with Indiana University, where he was heavily involved in managing high-level athletic facilities in Indianapolis, a move that helped to springboard him into a parks and recreation department director position in the city of DeWitt, Iowa. In 2005, he took on a role as city administrator in Adel, Iowa, a small town of about 3,500, before joining Decorah\u2019s city manager\u2019s department.<\/p>\n Bird pointed to collaboration as one of his strongpoints as a community leader, noting if he gets the job he\u2019d begin looking for major employers and influencers in the community to partner on projects with, though he cautioned trying to move things forward too quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cI think teamwork is very important,\u201d Bird said. \u201cAs we look to move the community forward we need to do that as a team. One of my core philosophies in that approach with my department heads is let\u2019s take care of what we have before we start looking too far down the road at new things. What is our current infrastructure, and how do we maintain that? How do we build on the relationships we currently have as a cornerstone of what we\u2019re doing before we start expanding, and growing beyond our abilities?\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Kosdrosky<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike Kosdrosky was the next to give his thoughts on the position. Kosdrosky has been serving as the executive director of the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority for almost five years, an organization boasting the largest workforce-housing program in North America.<\/p>\n In all, Kosdrosky has more than 25 years of experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors, including work in federal, state and local governments. Most notably, he formerly served as the economic development policy adviser for the Ohio Governor\u2019s Office, and the assistant city manager for North Royalton, Ohio, a city of 30,000.<\/p>\n Kosdrosky lauded the town for its engaged citizens, and said his experience dealing with issues surrounding housing and other issues in the Western Slope would transfer well from Pitkin County to Dillon.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve worked with a lot of stakeholders in Summit County in the five years I\u2019ve been executive director of the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority,\u201d Kosdrovsky said. \u201cI have a good relationship with a lot of the players and partners here in Summit, and I think they do a good job. So that experience does translate, because we\u2019re all facing the same problems. The issues we\u2019re facing aren\u2019t endemic to the Roaring Fork Valley, and they\u2019re certainly facing Summit County and communities like Dillon.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/Dillon-SDN-111619-2-1024x768.jpg\")
Sawyer D\u2019Argonne \/ sdargonne@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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