Cortez City Manager Shane Hale is leaving to take a job as town manager in Windsor, Colorado. In a letter to city council, Hale, who has been in Cortez for six years, said he will begin his new duties in early June. He called the decision to leave “gut-wrenching” and said he would leave “with a heavy heart.” He praised the city’s council, staff, and residents, saying he and his family “have been happy and honored to call Cortez home.” Mayor Karen Sheek tells KSJD she believes Hale has done “a wonderful job of helping to lead the city.”
During Hale’s tenure, Cortez acquired a new city hall and experienced a construction boom that included the relocation of the outdoor company Osprey’s headquarters to the heart of the city. Cortez has been working on downtown beautification and the expansion of broadband and recently secured a grant to buy land to build a new 11-acre park on the south side. Windsor is a town of about 25,000 in Larimer and Weld counties in the northern part of the state.
Sheek said, “Our loss will be their gain.” City residents will be voting to fill five seats on the council April 2nd, which means it could be a largely new council that will choose Hale’s replacement.
“Our ability to hit the ground running will be important, because we have got big shoes to fill,” Sheek said.
