Katie Sickles
Katie Sickles, Ouray City Administrator
a Perfect Fit
by Kathryn R. Burke
[Ouray, Colo. March 20, 2018] Katie Sickles is a small town girl—from Cedaredge; Ouray’s a small town—just the right size. She’s an outdoor girl—bikes, hikes, swims and crossfits; Ouray has a hot pool, fitness center and tons of biking and hiking trails. She has experience in locating resources and implementing infrastructure action plans. Katie worked on more than one task force in Delta County, where she was town administrator for over 10 years. Ouray has some infrastructure issues—helping to resolve them is at the top of her own action plan. Ouray was always a favorite family vacation spot while she was growing up; now she lives here. Katie and Ouray—a perfect fit.
What does Katie like best about Ouray? Pretty much everything. “I love it because it’s a small town, and everything is ‘walkable.’ We have great restaurants, too, and so many things to do.” Katie came here in November, serving as interim city administrator while they were recruiting—and they recruited her. The position became permanent in February. “I’ve been coming here quite a few years,” she explains. “The family vacations when I was growing up, frequent trips when my kids were growing up in Cedaredge, and as a volleyball official for high schools in the Montrose District, which includes Ouray. I was here often.”
City administration wasn’t her first job. “After graduating from Delta High School, I left to find bigger and better things. I worked in the accommodation field in south New Jersey, a big tourist area, for a few years. I was in my early twenties. I had a great time.”
Katie came home, married, raised a family of four children, and went back to school to get a masters degree in public administration at the University of Colorado at Denver. When her degree was completed, she went to work for the Delta County EMS Special Funding District Task Force, where she helped draft a service plan for the proposed Delta County Ambulance District. Her next position was also with Delta County, as the GIS Coordinator. Then in 2006, she was hired as Cedaredge Town Administrator. All this before she accepted the interim position with the City of Ouray last year, which is now a permanent position.
She’s excited about where Ouray’s municipal operations are now, and looks forward to making some positive changes in the infrastructure. “Ouray has some conflicts and compliance issues right now—sewer and ice park, to name two. Many of the plans that have been in the talking stage are now ready for action plans and implementation,” she notes, “and I’m anxious to help find the resources and work with the community to get the job done. I want to be the ‘getter-together’ person.”
Sounds like she can do it, too. Katie is a perfect fit for the job.
This article also appears on website for the Woman’s Club of Ouray County. Designed and maintained by Kathryn R. Burke
[Ridgway, Colo. October 15, 2013] Susan Lee Long is the current Manager of the Ouray County 4-H Event Center and Fairgrounds in Ridgway, Colorado. She has been in this position for almost eight years. She also resides in Ridgway.
As the manager of the 4-H Event Center and Fairgrounds, she has been fortunate to meet many of the citizens, organizational members, and business owners in Ouray County. She has been instrumental in developing existing events into larger venues, as well as, bringing many new venues to our county’s Event Center and Fairgrounds.
[Ouray, Colo. Nov. 13. 2013] Tamara Knutson followed a fairly direct path to get to where she is today. After graduating a BS in Resource Management, she went to work for the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconson for two years. She then joined her father’s firm, Knutson Bros. Remodelers, serving as Project Manager, scheduling subcontractors and ordering products, and later Field Project Manager. It was while working with her father and uncle that she learned all phases of the construction business.
A Balancing Act. [Ouray Colo., April 21. 2015] Connie Hunt comes from a family of eight, so learning to balance people, tasks, and time comes naturally. And with a background of nine years in banking, 25 consecutive years in county administration, and a masters degree in public administration, Hunt understands how to balance people and politics.
[Ouray, Colo. March 15,2016] Collen Hollenbeck is now on her second term as elected coroner and has held that position since 2011. Before that, she served as deputy coroner under Gary Miller, who suggested she run when he retired from the position.
[Ouray, Colo. March 17, 2015] “The Black Swift could be called the most elusive bird on earth,” Hirshman believes. “The birds don’t make it easy to find or observe them.” They like to nest in caves, near waterfalls, where rocky ledges and inhospitable terrain protect them from predators.
One of the more accessible locations for these mysterious birds right Box Canyon in Ouray, Colorado. Hirshman has been watching the Black Swift and recording their activities here nearly 20 years. “I hope I can study this bird until I’m 90,” she told Samantha Tisdel Wright for an article in the ‘2014 Adventure Summer Guide’ (1) “As long as I am able to walk, I am going to go over there” and watch those birds.
But she does more than just ‘watch.’ Using a Nikon D-90 with an AF-S Nikkor 70-300 mm lens for close-ups, she gets some outstanding photographs. Hirshman has helped team members band birds. Although Hirshman did not directly help the team to attach geo-locators, many birds were also fitted with that device to track their annual migration – all the way to Brazil and back!
Hirshman’s observations and photographs have been reported in numerous publications and scientific studies. Google ‘Sue Hirshman Black Swift’ and you get several pages of ‘hits,’ including links to articles she writes for the local Ouray County Newspaper. (2) Hirshman relates results of a detailed study of 11 years of Black Swift breeding phenology and success at Box Canyon.(5) “Box Canyon is known as Colorado’s largest nesting colony and the most accessible viewing opportunity, which has gained world attention as an important Birding Area,” Hirshman explains. Hirshman and Carolyn Gunn are updating that study to include another nine years.
[Ouray, Colo. October 20, 2015] Beth Goralski has been ice climbing since 2001. During a holiday vacation from Colorado State University, where she was a student, Beth took an ice climbing class. “I fell in love immediately” she said. “I had been rock climbing for quite a few years, so the transition was pretty easy for me.”
to compete in the Ouray Icefest. Last year, she also competed at the Bozeman Ice Festival in Bozeman Montana, which is now a World Cup event. This year she will return to compete in Bozeman, which is “where the world’s best mixed climbers come together to compete. There are six other world cup comps held in Europe and South Korea but Bozeman is the only one held in the Americas.”