| Administration
The City
of Manitou Springs Administration Department is the “home office” for
the several operating departments of the City. It is through
this department that the activities of all of the departments
are coordinated. The department’s current staff consists
of the City Administrator, the City Attorney and the City
Clerk.
The City Administrator is the chief executive officer, responsible
for the supervision of all department heads and departmental
personnel, assisting the City Council in preparing the annual
budget, advising Council on the current needs and future
needs of the City through the making of recommendations to
carry out the policies, projects and administrative duties
established by City Council.
Verne Witham, a long time (55 years) resident of Manitou Springs is the City Administrator. His earlier years included a short term in the U. S. Navy. He was employed by the City of Manitou (7 years) working at one time or the other in every department finishing up as Water Commissioner. In 1971, he took up a career job with the U.S. Army (Ft. Carson) serving as their Fire Chief for 35 years with a very distinguished notoriety, Army wide.
Upon retirement in January 2005, Verne was offered a position with the City of Manitou Springs as their Interim City Administrator. It was not a situation that he was a stranger to, knowing Manitou for so many years. Many great people live here and it is a town he loves and has admiration for. The City Council appointed him, on June 28 at a special session, as the Administrator for the City through the end of 2005, with a review of the position in January 2006.
The City Attorney is the primary adviser to City Council
on legal matters of proposed legislation and matters of litigation,
serves as a consultant to the City Administrator and department
heads in interpreting laws and regulations, and serves as
the Municipal Court prosecutor of violators of the Manitou
Springs Municipal Code.
The current City Attorney is Alan
N. Jensen. He
received both his undergraduate degree and his law degree
from the University of Colorado In Boulder. He has served
as City Attorney for nineteen years. He was a member of
the Colorado Land Use Commission for ten years, the last
two years of which he served as chairman. He has written
articles on land use law and municipal court procedures,
and he has been a speaker on these and other topics at
conferences of the Municipal Lawyers’ Section
of the Colorado Municipal League and the Colorado County
Attorney’s Association. He has also been a member
and chairman of the local government law committee of the
Colorado Bar Association.
The City Clerk keeps a journal of Council
proceedings, records all ordinances, motions and resolutions,
maintains the files of official City documents, conducts
all City elections and is the custodian of the official
City Seal. The current City Clerk also serves as Court
Clerk to the Manitou Springs Municipal Court and functions
as the City’s Human Resources Manager
for all departments.
The current City Clerk is Carol
A. Lawson. Carol was originally hired by the Police Department
as the Secretary to the Chief of Police and Records Clerk.
During her time in the Police Department she also became
the Dispatch Supervisor for many years. In 1999 Carol transferred
to the Administrative side of the City and took on the
responsibilities of being the Assistant to the City Administrator
and the City Attorney. In 2001 Carol was asked to take
on the additional duties of the City Clerk. Her other duties
include being the Municipal Court Clerk, Human Resource
Officer, Risk Manager (property/casualty and workman’s
comp), Assistant to the Manitou Springs Metropolitan Board
and Designated Election Official for the City, the Business
Improvement District and the Metro Board.
Please feel free to contact:
Code Enforcement Officer: Walt Perkins
at the Administration Office for additional information.
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