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Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 6:07 AM

City Council declines hire of new city manager

City Council declines hire of new city manager

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

After one candidate withdrew from consideration and interviews of the remaining two, the Fernley City Council on Wednesday rejected Mayor Neal McIntyre’s motion to appoint Dawn Collins as the new city manager.

The Council is now back at the beginning of the process to hire a city manager for the third time in less than a year.

Candidate Michael Toombs withdrew from consideration last Monday, and on Wednesday the council interviewed Collins, the Town Administrator/Clerk of the Town of Palmer Lake, Colo. who has also been an administrator in a pair of small cities in Wisconsin, and George Zoukee, a self-employed real estate investor who has served as the Associate Administrator for the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration, Director of Finance for Transportation Corridor Agencies in Irvine, Calif. and treasurer of the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority.

Both candidates were asked a list of 15 questions, four of which were provided to them in advance, and the rest which they were expected to answer in the spur of the moment. Human Resources Director Jackie Moxley explained to the candidates that format allowed the council to judge how well the candidates presented both prepared and unprepared answers.

After the interviews, the council adjourned for a break and a legal briefing. When they returned, McIntyre proposed Collins as his appointment. But the vote to ratify his appointment failed, with council members Fran McKay and Stan Lau in favor, but Albert Torres, Felicity Zoberski and Ryan Hanan opposed.

Now McIntyre and the council must start the recruitment process over again. As part of that, they must also decide whether they s=use the same search process that yielded the 10 applicants they received this time, whether Moxley will lead the search, or whether they will hire a search firm to recruit and vet candidates.


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Comment author: Jack & Nancy CookComment text: Wonderful man. Created a precious family with Linda. Will always respect and admire his contribution to teaching at FHS.Comment publication date: 4/18/26, 10:27 AMComment source: Howard David JacksonComment author: JeffDickersonComment text: Very well reported, even though our motion was denied.Comment publication date: 4/15/26, 11:05 AMComment source: Judge allows Fernley City Council to proceed with corrective agenda item in Lau expulsion caseComment author: Todd fossumComment text: Hi my name is todd fossum i'm clarence's stepson, I was wondering if he had any siblings. I think he said he had a sister that just survived cancer. If she can get ahold of me or any buddy, my number is 916. 3 4 3 1 1 7 7.Thank you have a blessed dayComment publication date: 1/16/26, 4:33 PMComment source: Clarence L Shields C Comment author: Carl HagenComment text: So just curious, what is the point of a franchise agreement if it is not exclusive?Comment publication date: 12/15/25, 4:18 PMComment source: Council approves non-exclusive franchise agreement for waste collection C Comment author: Christine S GleasonComment text: In the first photo, the woman in the middle, wearing the black shirt, is SaraH Jean Gleason. She is not an FHS Leadership Student but is the person who is responsible (with the help of her father) for starting the Fernley Community Thanksgiving Dinner in 2011. She attended this year's dinner while home from Arizona State University, where she is working on her PhD.Comment publication date: 12/8/25, 8:52 PMComment source: About 400 meals served at Community Thanksgiving DinnerComment author: SusanComment text: RIP Sean. Prayers to the family, sorry for your loss.Comment publication date: 9/25/25, 1:11 PMComment source: Sean Everett Turner
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