Interim county manager named for Douglas County

Jenifer Davidson was appointed as the interim county manager during the Douglas County's Board of County Commissioner meeting August 16, a job she will start on August 31.

Currently Davidson is the assistant county manager, a job she has held since March of this year.

County Manager Larry Werner asked in June to be released from his contract as of August 31.

Davidson is a graduate of Douglas High School and Boise State University and completed the University of Nevada, Reno Supervisory Management Program. In 2011 she was appointed to the position of Minden Town Manager by the Town Board. She previously served as an Administrative Services Manager at China Spring from 2008 to 2011. Jenifer is a Certified Public Official through the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities.

Davidson will remain Interim County Manager until a permanent county manager is selected by the Board of County Commissioners.

Discussion of how that process will proceed took up much of the commissioner's meeting last week. Many residents said they should have a say as they were concerned about a pro-developer manager being hired while others wanted a town hall style meeting so the candidates could be grilled over issues in public. The commissioners were slated to be part of the interview committee and the County's human resources department asked that community and business leaders be involved as well.

There are 67 candidates but only 38 met the minimum qualifications. Human Resources is taking that list down to 10-15 through a screening process.

Each commissioner will select two people from their districts to be on the interview panel and those will be announced at their August 31 meeting. Once the group conducts their interviews and take the candidate list down to about six, the commissioners will have their own interviews on September 25.