Jefferson: Commissioners negotiating with Colorado man to be next county administrator

An administrator from a large Colorado city who has ties to the Pacific Northwest is negotiating with Jefferson County commissioners to be the next county administrator.

Commissioners on Monday said they could make an official announcement as early as today.

But they declined to say that John L. Fischbach, 59, is their choice to fill the position being vacated by David Goldsmith, who retires June 28.

Fischbach, city manager of Fort Collins, Colo., for the past eight years, would not confirm or deny Monday that he was negotiating with the commissioners.

One of the four finalists, Nancy McDaniel, 50, a Chimacum native who returned to East Jefferson County after retiring from the U.S. Air Force, withdrew from consideration last week, Goldsmith said.

Another finalist, Allen Sartin, 55, who currently is the county’s assistant administrator and director of central services, was seen several times in a courthouse hallway Monday while commissioners held telephone negotiations about the position.

The fourth candidate, Michael Pence, 56, city administrator in Kemmerer, Wyo., hasn’t been contacted by the commissioners and wasn’t negotiating to take the position, according to his wife.

Pence was not available for comment.

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