Community member Kevin Holsapple, left, and Los Alamos County Council Vice Chair Theresa Cull take part in the Los Alamos County Manager candidate meet and greet event Thursday at the Los Alamos Nature Center. The process to recruit a new manager began when County Manager Steven Lynne announced in July that he would be retiring in March 2024. The two finalists are Los Alamos County Deputy Manager Anne Laurent and Senior Deputy City Manager for the City of El Paso, Texas, Tracey Jerome. Both attended the meet and greet and introduced themselves to the community. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
From left, Los Alamos County Councilor Suzy Havemann, Century Bank VP / Finance Anne Kain, Pajarito Environmental Education Center Executive Director Jillian Rubio and Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Director Ryn Herrmann chatting at the meet and greet for the Los Alamos County Manager candidates Thursday night at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Staff Report
Los Alamos County Manager finalists Anne Laurent and Tracey Jerome provided insight into their professional background and why they felt they were best suited to be the next County Manager during Thursday night’s Meet & Greet event at the Los Alamos Nature Center.
Laurent and Jerome each mentioned the great leaders in history who inspire them.
Laurent, who is the Los Alamos County Deputy Manager, said her favorite historical figure is Mary Colter, an architect who worked on buildings along railroads in the American West. Laurent, who began her career as an architect, described Colter as a “trailblazer” who did amazing things that women at that time were not typically doing.
Jerome, who is the Senior Deputy City Manager for the City of El Paso, Texas, said the historical figure she admires is Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Jerome also referred to Justice Day O’Connor as a “trailblazer” who not only was the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court but was ahead of her time in so many ways. Jerome said Day O’Connor had a great relationship with her husband – they accomplished so much together. Day O’Connor did not choose between having a career or being a wife, Jerome said, she successfully balanced both.
Los Alamos County Deputy Manager and candidate for the County Manager position Anne Laurent speaks to the audience during the County Manager candidate Meet & Greet Thursday night at the Los Alamos Nature Center. ‘I am just so pleased and thankful to be here … I am really honored to be a finalist and humbled by the responsibility and challenges that come along with this position of County Manager,’ she said. Laurent told the crowd that she has two decades of public service, mostly in Los Alamos. She said she strives to work collaboratively and implement positive changes. Laurent added that she put her hat in the ring for the County Manager position because, ‘I certainly have nothing to lose. I love my job, I have a wonderful job, I have a wonderful community. I am here tonight because I have more to give and there is so much work to be done.’ Laurent came to Los Alamos in 2008 to lead the replacement of buildings and public facility infrastructure project and helped usher into fruition the Nature Center, Teen Center, Justice Center, White Rock branch library and the clubhouse at the golf course. These projects were delivered on time and on budget, she said. Laurent has taken on numerous positions including acting leadership roles, taken on merged departments, was a part of the emergency center during the Las Conchas and Cerro Pelado fires, was a member of the collective bargaining team in 2022 and participated in the effort of the electronic dashboard that will be on the County website to track the progress of the council’s strategic leadership plans and each County department’s key performance indicators. Laurent’s husband, Steve Laurent, is the Executive Director of the Los Alamos Community Foundation and they have two children. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Senior Deputy City Manager for the City of El Paso, Texas, and candidate for Los Alamos County Manager Tracey Jerome introduces herself and discusses her work experience to attendees at the County Manager candidate Meet & Greet event Thursday night at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Some of the highlights she offered included aiding refugees traveling across the U.S. and Mexico border, navigating the impacts of a mass shooting in 2019 and reversing from what the New York Times reported as the most infected city per capita for COVID to being acknowledged for a successful vaccine rollout at the state and federal level. Jerome has lived overseas including Austria, Belgium, United Kingdom, Korea and Singapore. ‘I’ve been asked why Los Alamos; I’ve been asked if I’ve been here; I have been here before … I am so happy to now know about Los Alamos and I look forward to being an ambassador moving forward,’ she said. ‘…What I bring to the table and to you is something that perhaps you are not sure about because I am new, and I am different, and I am not from this community … I look forward to having the opportunity to have the choice to come here and be a part of what is happening here.’ There are challenges but Jerome said she sees challenges as opportunities, adding it is not a matter of change but a matter of amplification. Jerome is married with two grown sons. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos County Council Chair Denise Derkacs introduces the two candidates for County Manager: Deputy County Manager Anne Laurent and Senior Deputy City Manager for the City of El Paso, Texas, Tracey Jerome. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Attendees, which included residents, Los Alamos County Councilors, business owners and organization representatives and others wait for the County Manager candidates to make their introductions Thursday night at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
