Tarwater takes over as assistant city manager

Mathis Winkler

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2001 | 9:37 a.m.

By next Monday, Dan Tarwater will be juggling two jobs.

That's because the city's human resources director has just been appointed assistant city manager and will stay in charge of his old department until a replacement is found.

As a result of his promotion, Tarwater will receive an annual salary of $108,000, up from the $98,434 he received as human resources director.

The assistant city manager's position has been vacant since August, when Michele Richardson left the city to work in the private sector.

City Manager Kurt Fritsch said he urged Tarwater to apply for the position and chose the 49-year-old after reviewing about 300 applications from other candidates.

"He already has a relationship with the departments that he'll be supervising," Fritsch said. "Now we've got someone who will come in and hit the ground running."

In addition to the human resources department, Tarwater will oversee the city's administrative services division and the city clerk's office. He'll also serve as liaison to the North Las Vegas Municipal Court and the North Las Vegas Library District.

Fritsch said that he also is considering handing over the city's detention services department to Tarwater. Along with the police and finance departments, the detention services division still reports directly to Fritsch.

Tarwater took his current position with the city in 1999 and has directed human resources departments in the private sector. He holds a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Missouri.

Gregory Rose, the city's other assistant city manager, oversees development, including the public works, community development, development services, parks and recreation and fire departments.

Tarwater said he's excited about his new job and wants to meet with department heads early next week to discuss plans for improvements in the areas he will oversee.

Uniform performance standards for all employees is one thing he wants to introduce right away, he said. This will make it easier to tell whether each department meets its goals or lags behind with its workload, he added.

While Tarwater's appointment has filled a void at the city's top executive level, North Las Vegas is now left with three open department head positions.

In addition to a new human resources director, city officials are searching for a police chief and a development services director.

Joe Forti has been acting police chief since former Chief Joey Tillmon retired on Nov. 1. Deputy Fire Chief Jim Stubler is serving as acting development services director after former department director Tom Bell retired last week, Fritsch said.