Los Alamos County Manager Steven Lynne speaking Tuesday at the Kiwanis Club meeting at TOTH. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
One thing is certain about working at Los Alamos County – it is never dull, Los Alamos County Manager Steven Lynne said during the Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos meeting Tuesday at Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church.
Whether it was serving as the County’s authorizing agent during the Cerro Grande Fire or responding to the COVID pandemic as County Manager, Lynne said new and unexpected were big themes in his career, which will end with his retirement in March.
“I’ve never really been bored at work…,” he said.
Lynne’s interactions with the County started before he even became an employee. He explained he was an auditor and would perform audits for County governments, including Los Alamos.
“I wouldn’t have gone to work there … except for getting to know the people at Los Alamos County and the people in the community,” he said. “It is not a setting I would have imagined but the people here are so professional, so nice to work with and it obviously turned out okay 28 years later.”
Lynne said his first job with the County was with its budget, then he became Chief Financial Officer, then Deputy County Manager and finally County Manager.
In looking at his tenure, Lynne said the thing he is most proud of are the people.
“It is not just sitting in an office,” he said. “There is an amazing connection between the County and the community.”
Lynne listed a few other highlights he experienced during his time in the local government. One is the ability to replace aging infrastructure. He explained that when he first came on board, the laboratory was operated as a nonprofit by the University of California. This meant that the laboratory paid a third of normal gross receipt taxes. When the laboratory changed to a for-profit entity, GRT increased and the County had the revenue to start replacing infrastructure and develop a more aggressive capital program.
Another accomplishment, he said, was helping the County do more strategic planning as well as develop a comprehensive plan.
Lynne listed five goal areas:
- Quality government;
- Operational excellence;
- Environmental stewardship;
- Economic vitality; and
- Quality of life.
Within these goals are 22 strategic priorities, Lynne said.
Any of these accomplishments would not have happened without the teamwork in the County, he said. In fact, very few things are accomplished individually. It takes teamwork and collaborations with outside organizations to get things done, Lynne said.
For instance, one of the biggest collaborations is the cooperative agreement between the laboratory and the County to provide fire services.
Lynne said the lab pays 75 percent of the costs for the Los Alamos Fire Department, which is the County’s largest department.
Another example is the collective bargaining work within the County and its capital planning, which benefits from good citizen participation, he said.
“…having the input from citizens provides that focus that really improves our planning process,” Lynne said.
The County has also made headway on regional partnerships. Lynne said hiring Danielle Duran as the Intergovernmental Affairs Manager helped that effort and that the County continues to do more and more regionally.
“Los Alamos is small and there’s only so much we can do alone and having those regional partnerships are going to help in a large variety of ways,” he said.
A lot has happened during Lynne’s tenure but there is a lot more in store. For instance, redevelopment is occurring at the Mari Mac site, solicitations are being evaluated for a project on 20th Street, the County’s affordable housing plan is being updated, 85 single family homes are planned for the Arbolada development on North Mesa and 160 apartment units are planned off of Canyon Road. Mirador continues to be built out and while a Metropolitan Redevelopment Act was approved for White Rock, another one is being considered for Los Alamos.
It is a lengthy to-do list, but Lynne said it will be in good hands with his successor, Anne Laurent.
“I have immense confidence in Anne,” he said.
