The City of Aspen is finding itself in the position of many employers in the valley who find it difficult to attract qualified employees. Aspen Public Radio’s Carolyn Sackariason has the details.
The city manager’s office had to re-open the job posting for a parking director after the first round of 28 applicants didn’t produce the right candidate. One individual from outside of the area was offered the job but declined because of the cost of living and the lack of affordable housing.
The second job posting was advertised more broadly and focused on candidates having strong management and customer service skills. The first posting targeted people in the parking industry. Now the city has a new field of 18 candidates, including local applicants. Assistant City Manager Randy Ready hopes this round attracts the right person for the job.
“It’s a specialized position with a number of requirements and it’s a department head level that we take very seriously and we are doing the recruitment very diligently.”
Former parking director Tim Ware was reassigned as the city’s ice facilities supervisor last fall after it was discovered that hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost due to a multi-year defrauding through the pay meters. The parking director position pays between $69,000 and $95,000.
