On Monday, March 25, the Sparks City Council and Mayor Ed Lawson decided to hire Dion Louthan as the community’s next city manager.
The city manager position had been open since September of last year when Louthan’s predecessor Neil Krutz was fired because of how he managed the termination of the city’s former fire chief Mark Lawson during his employment. Sparks Police Chief Chris Crawforth worked in the city manager role until Louthan was hired.
Two months after they let Krutz go, the Sparks City Council approved a contract to hire the executive recruiting firm Bob Murray and Associates. The firm launched a nationwide search in late December, and it closed in late January. After finding and vetting numerous prospects, the list was narrowed down to six individuals, and then to two. Sparks City Council agreed to advance Aaron Cubic and Dion Louthan to the final round of interviews and the City took the finalists around to city-managed facilities, introduced them to employees, and held a meet-and-greet event open to the public on Wednesday, March 20.
Both candidates had 20 years of municipal government experience. Cubic is currently the city manager for Grants Pass, Oregon, and Louthan was the assistant city manager for Roseville, California. Louthan also worked for the City of Henderson for 15 years and said that he believes his experience in serving a southern Nevada community like Henderson could transfer over to the needs of Northern Nevadans.
“I saw the benefits that it can bring to the community in relation to affordable housing, economic development, conservation, and outdoor recreation. All those things lead to quality of life,” Louthan said.
“I want to engage with the community, staff, counsel and understand the elements that are boiling from the top. Then, I want to take that information and see what we can do differently,” he remarked when asked what he would do if offered the position.
At the March 25 Sparks City Council meeting, Mayor Lawson said, “I think we put together a great process here, quite frankly. We had the employees involved, we had the community involved, we had all the council involved. Everybody got exposure to these two gentlemen, and they stood out amongst the six we interviewed that one day. And then they got here, and they’re so close, so close. We literally can’t go wrong with either choice.
“My decision came down to two or three degrees of separation for me, and I chose Dion Louthan as our new city manager.”
Sparks Acting City Manager Chris Crawforth agreed with Lawson, saying that the mayor took the words right out of his mouth.
Mayor Lawson mentioned the insightful questions that were asked by the community, and the thoughtful answers that the candidates in turn gave. Councilmember Charlene Bybee then made a motion to appoint Dion Louthan as its next city manager, and it passed unanimously. Bybee also mentioned how she felt that Roseville was similar in size to Sparks and Henderson had similar characteristics to the Northern Nevada community, which supported the decision to hire Louthan.
“Mr. Louthan is authentic, has extensive experience, and has excellent ideas about moving the City forward. We are excited to welcome Mr. Louthan to our Sparks team,” Lawson said later.
“I’m looking forward to going back to one job,” Crawforth chuckled.
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