After interview sessions with individual supervisors, a formal interview process was held Thursday to select the new City Manager for Carson City.
Decisions were split between current Deputy City Manager Stephanie Hicks and newcomer Glen Martel, but in the end, Martel was selected to fill the position of retiring City Manager Nancy Paulson.
During the previous day’s “lightning round” interviews, as one supervisor referred to them as, each individual supervisor was given the chance to get to know the three candidates in the running.
And, according to Martel, it gave him a chance to learn some facts about Carson City he hadn’t known before, such as Frank Proctor being one of Carson City’s founders or that Carson City has over 70 community partnerships.
“I’ve been learning a lot,” Martel told supervisors Thursday during the formal interviews.
As a bit of a joke, Giomi followed up a series of questions by asking Martel whether or not he knew what Carson City’s official flower was.
“You can’t do this deeper conversation without a little bit of fun,” Giomi said, then added: “It’s the desert peach.”
Background
Glen A. Martel currently serves as the Executive Officer for the Nevada Builders Alliance and has served in that position since 2023. Prior to that position, he served as City Manager for the City of Live Oak, Texas from 2022 to 2023, and prior to that, as Assistant City Manager in the City of Missouri City in Missouri City, Texas from 2019 to 2022. From May to July 2019, he served as interim assistant director of public works for the City of Reno, and from 2005 to 2008 he served as the director of project management for Mid-Valley Engineering in Reno.
He also served in the Nevada Air National Guard as Brigadier General from 1984 until 2022.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno.
He is requesting a minimum compensation of $220,000 per year.
The video of his interview can be viewed here:
Read more about him in his application:
Priorities
When it comes to priorities and what he planned to do next, Martel said he would look into the city’s budget, ways to promote economic development, reviewing and improving city operations based on what other cities are doing, building relationships and keeping an open communication with employees.
City budget and staffing
Question by Supervisor Stacey Giomi: About 80% of all of our [general fund] money goes to salary and benefits; how will you a city manager ensure that employees remain happy and productive so that they in turn can adopt a service first attitude and deliver the services [the public] expects?
Martel said when looking at the budget, there “may have to be some hard conversations” regarding reductions in staff or services. However, he provided a caveat that he doesn’t know any details about the budget at present.
“I don’t know details, but the things that might be on the table: is there a reduction in staff? I don’t know if we’re at that point but that probably should have to be discussed,” Martel said. “Is there a a reduction in services of some kind? Are we not going to maintain parks to the standard we become accustomed to? I don’t know. Are we not going to maintain the roads? We can have that conversation. Are we not going to flush sewer lines as much as we used to or should — I don’t know, right? All of those things though would have to be on the table.”
While revenue projections for the next few years aren’t looking particularly good for the entirety of the state, compared to other municipalities, Carson City is faring significantly better due to the fact that they used a far more conservative estimate of revenue projections to build their budget than what the state initially projected.
While nearby municipalities are facing massive deficits due to the state revenue deficit, Carson City did not have the same issues. Washoe County is facing a $27 million deficit, and the City of Reno is working to slash their budget by more than $9 million.
Even close to home, the Carson City School District had to face a nearly $5 million deficit following initial state projections:
However, as Martel pointed out, costs will only continue to increase in everything from salary and benefits to construction and maintenance costs.
In 2026, the city will only be able to fund around $2.86 million of the $6.38 million in current maintenance costs, resulting in another increase in the balance of deferred maintenance.
Economic Development
Question by Mayor Lori Bagwell: Carson City deeply values its historic identity. If a major developer proposes a project that promises economic growth, but would change the look and feel of a historic neighborhood, how would you guide the city through that decision while ensuring inclusive public input and balanced long-term planning?
Martel said that the first step in long-term planning is the Master Plan, which was just adopted by the city. He said that there are already experts in place who shape the process, including the Historic Commission, who should be looked to as guides: “They are the experts [who] monitor and make sure those standards are set, and I think bringing that to the public is key.”
He said while some situations such as facade updates wouldn’t be as big of a deal to the public at large, there would be some instances that would “definitely be a problem,” such as a developer wanting to tear down a building and build something new [modern] in the downtown area, since “Carson City loves its historic downtown.”
Question by Supervisor Curtis Horton: There’s been a lot of discussion about economic development in Carson City; can you describe your specific experience in economic development, and any ideas you may have about Carson City, keeping in mind the historic nature of our city?
Martel discussed at length the projects he’s worked on both within the region and within the municipalities in Texas that he worked for previously.
In addition, he said to encourage economic development, he would create the Economic Development Director position again, which would be dedicated to working with external entities like the chamber, Visit Carson City, NNDA and others.
“I think that’s what Carson City needs is a dedicated economic development director,” he said. “Now little bit of clarification: that’s not a new position. What I’m thinking today is a change in position with somebody that’s already on the team. There probably is somebody out there that has a skill set, has a desire, has the ability, has a little bit of history perhaps in working with economic development.”
Question by Supervisor Stacey Giomi: We have, in the past, had an economic development director and in the master plan process, we heard economic development from some of the citizens — what steps can you take a city manager to help promote economic development as far as bringing new businesses or keeping the ones that we have?
Martel said his goals would be to look for areas where the city can bring in new businesses that would promote workforce, especially in the industrial areas that can still be built out and developed to bring in higher paying jobs in areas that won’t impact the downtown or residential areas.
“I think we can really benefit from the fact that we have some of those industrial and tech uses that are happening in our neighboring communities, and we can benefit from the fact that some of those supplementary services or companion to those larger tech companies are going to be looking for areas to grow and to bring their businesses.”
He also said that they need to keep the businesses that are here, and they need to be attracting new ones to “stay the vibrant community that we all love.”
Question by Supervisor Maurice White: [As part of the job description] you are required to have knowledge of the socio-political environment of northern Nevada; what is that, and how do you use that knowledge?
Martel said that when Carson City is successful, the state is successful.
“So I think that is what you’re talking about when you ask that question, is that familiarity,” Martel said. “So to how am I familiar with that? On multiple levels; all throughout my career I’ve worked in the development world, that has been my key experience, obviously, working in Carson City here for ten years, projects in Carson City, projects in Dayton, projects in other locations … so I think those are the kind of things you look at, how do you work with those agencies.”
Communication
Question by Supervisor Lisa Schuette: What do you believe are the most important skills for a city manager to possess and why?
Martel said that being able to communicate is the most important skill for a city manager.
He said communication wasn’t something he did initially in his profession as an engineer, but after watching others in his field, he came to realize that asking questions, especially early on in a project, he’d be able to find better solutions than just working at them on your own.
Within his military career, he said, “Back when we grew up, most of us — you didn’t talk about stuff, right? But in the military I learned, and the culture changed that if you do engage with people more, and you have at least some level of a relationship … we can support each other. Then people will feel comfortable talking to you if they have a problem.”
Question by Mayor Lori Bagwell: Imagine a major infrastructure failure like a water main break disrupts daily life and raises questions about whether the city acted quickly enough. How would you respond to the public support city staff and lead the recovery effort while maintaining transparency and public confidence?
Martel said the first thing would be to assure the public that the team’s got it: we have experts on board.” He said explaining the actual processes and specific timeline behind an issue and what steps are being taken to rectify it is the key to public confidence.
“Then, if questions come up, you just be as transparent as you can and you say this is the timeline … we responded in this time, we had the crew, and we did the work we needed to do … So I think again, it’s just about having the timeliness of communication and ensuring the public that team Carson has got it, that they’re safe and their resources are okay.”
Board deliberations
The board went back and forth between whether or not to give the job to Martel or Deputy City Manager Stephanie Hicks.
One reason in Hicks’ favor was the fact that she could hit the ground running on day one in the position as she would not need to be trained, and had already cultivated relationships within city departments.
Mayor Bagwell and Supervisor Schuette were initially in favor of Hicks.
“I believe that Stephanie has done the job for five and a half years, she has shown us who she is, and since she hasn’t shown us any bad acts, then the I have to go with Stephanie,” Bagwell said. “I just can’t find a reason not to select her. When I look to make a decision, I am loyal to the internal employees unless they show me different. You have to show me that you don’t deserve to be promoted, but I think all employees come to work and become deputies with the anticipation of becoming that director … dedicate themselves to doing good work.”
Supervisor Schuette said that while she appreciated other supervisor sentiments of wanting to go in a new direction, she clarified that Hicks is new in the fact that she is not the City Manager, and would be bringing her own ideas to the table, and coupled with the fact that she already understands the structure of Carson City made her the right choice.
“I look at the direction the community is going, what we’ve done with the master plan … our title 18, the knowledge about land use and what we are doing in our community, what the process we have gone through and are going through, the relationships with staff and with community, and [having] a proven ability to work with staff … I thought addressed the demands of the job,” Schuette said.
However, after the tides shifted towards Martel, Bagwell and Schuette both agreed to vote for him so the decision would be unanimous, as both had stated he was a strong choice in their deliberations.
Supervisor Horton said his decision to go with Martel was based on the fact that he would be new to the city.
“I think we’re faced with an opportunity here today, and the opportunity is to take a new path with new leadership, new ideas, or continue down the road that we’re on: business as usual,” Horton said. “I’m not a proponent of that. There are things I want to see corrected, I want improved accountability, I want things to be different in our city.”
He said he is tired of the problems and complaints of dead and dying landscapes and issues, such as the fact that “we see $10,000 worth of trees and shrubs that are dead because we drove past them and didn’t notice that; I’m frustrated with those things.”
He said the city needs to change how business is done, and Martel is a “hometown guy” who was raised here and sees the problems here, and has “the skills and background knowledge and abilities to address those issues.”
Supervisor Giomi said his decision to go with Martel is related to timing, and the fact that the city has many large-scale public works projects makes Martel the best candidate given his background.
Supervisor White said he’s not often in a position to make a decision that’s difficult to make, as he’s always been very decisive in his decisions.
He said that there are some “pretty serious economic decisions coming to us we’re going to have to make,” and at this point his choice is Martel.
“Again, like at our last meeting this is not personal this is business. I’m looking at two different approaches, two different backgrounds, that again leads me to support Glen.”
When the motion was taken, it was unanimous.
The city will now go into contract negotiations with Martel. Current Manager Paulson will be retiring on June 30, 2025.
