The Littleton City Council selected Jim Becklenberg as Littleton's new city manager. He will begin working July 6, pending council approval of his employment contract.
Becklenberg is the City Manager of Evans, Colorado, a city of 22,000 people near Greeley. He brings 25 years of experience in governmental finance and management.
In his five-year tenure with the City of Evans, his accomplishments include leading efforts to pass a ballot measure implementing a new sales tax for road maintenance and widening that tripled the maintenance budget, completing construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and planning for future expansion, collaborating with regional leaders in water resources strategic planning, and reallocating the budget to achieve service level increases without layoffs or decreases in other services.
Becklenberg is credentialed by the International City and County Managers Association. He earned a Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs from Indiana University, Bloomington.
"Littleton is known far and wide as a great city with lots of history. It is a great time to be there with all the work that has been done in recent years to craft a new master plan and the community's support for new sales tax revenue that will go a long way toward catching up on deferred maintenance and other capital needs," Becklenberg said. "I am eager to start working with Littleton's forward-looking city council and talented staff to facilitate decisions and strategies that both preserve what the community cherishes and meet the challenges and opportunities of the future."
Utilizing the resources of CPS HR Consulting, the city council and consultants considered 77 applicants for the vacancy created by City Manager Mark Relph's retirement, effective June 1, 2022.
Becklenberg was selected through a comprehensive process that included interviews with a community panel, the city's leadership team, subject matter experts, and city council.
"We are extremely excited for Jim to join the City of Littleton. He brings a breadth of experience on similar issues and opportunities that will be an asset for the entire Littleton community," said Mayor Kyle Schlachter. "We had many excellent applicants and I'm proud of the unbelievable agreement that all stakeholders in this process reached clearly identifying Jim as the best and most obvious choice as Littleton's next city manager."
Littleton Police Chief Doug Stephens will serve as interim city manager for the duration between Relph's departure and Becklenberg's start date.
Applicants hailed from across the United States. Littleton is considered a very desirable place to live and work thanks to a collaborative city council who established clear goals and a work plan, and a dedicated staff and citizenry who are committed to Littleton's continued success.
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