Thomas looks back at first year

With just about any new job, especially within a municipality, there’s a learning curve as one gets to know the issues and the people.

For Ned Tomas, he feels that curve has just about straightened as he recently celebrated his first year as city manager of Boulder City.

“It’s been very good,” he said of the past year. “There have been some surprises along the way that were similar to my previous job as a city manager. Just a different context. But I love working in Boulder City and with a great staff. It can be challenging working with a very engaged community but it’s a challenge I welcome. It feels very natural and I feel very much at home here.”

He said it’s been a quick first year and while getting up to speed, in the process, straightening that curve. But he realizes it takes time.

“Even in a small organization there are a lot of moving parts,” he said. “That has been a little challenging. But I appreciate the staff, who have been very supportive in helping me to understand things, while being patient with me.”

Thomas received a bachelor’s degree in geography at Brigham Young University and, after returning to school a few years later, a master’s degree in urban planning from Harvard.

He spent some time working in California and came to Nevada in the early 2000s for a job opportunity as an associate planner for the city of North Las Vegas. With just one two-year exception, Thomas has worked for city governments for well over two decades.

The fact that he and his family have called Southern Nevada home for more than 20 years was a recurring theme during Thomas’ public job interview before the city council last year. However, while he has owned a home in the region and his kids all went to Foothill High School and his wife is a teacher there, Thomas worked for more than a decade in and around the Bay Area in California.

In 2014, he took a job as community development director in Windsor in Sonoma County for two years before moving to the much larger city of San Jose as first a planner and then the planning division manager for a little more than two years. For nearly seven years, he worked in Milpitas, a town of 81,000. He worked for five years as the planning director and has been, for two years prior to Boulder City, was the city manager there.

He worked during the week in California and would fly home to Henderson on the weekends. So, the fact they are now renting a home a block from City Hall, as they continue to look for a home to buy, has been welcomed by Thomas and his family.

“It’s nice to be able to walk to work,” he said. “We really enjoy walking through the historic neighborhoods. It’s very quiet and very livable.”

When Thomas decided to throw his hat in the ring for the city manager position, a lot of that had to do with his desire to come back to Southern Nevada, especially since his family was here.

“This position became open and it was exactly what I was hoping for,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in Boulder City, because it’s so different from the rest of Southern Nevada.”

Now with a year under his belt, Thomas can look ahead a bit and knows there are many issues the city is dealing with, such as data centers, a new public pool, city staffing, upgrades to the fire and police departments, and water resources to name just a few.

“As an organization, we have some work to do ensuring we’re delivering our services as efficiently as possible,” he said. “That’s tied to the budget.

“Any organization needs to do an organizational assessment and ask, ‘Are we serving our customers the best way that we can, delivering our services as effectively as possible and are there any changes that we can make to improve both customer service and efficiency?’ I’ll continue to work with the council and the community to get to know what their priorities are.”

Thomas received rave reviews from the city council recently during his annual evaluation. Mayor Joe Hardy echoed those thoughts last week when he told the Review, “Ned Thomas brings a calm and competent approach to the city. He respects both citizens and staff. He has great experience and understanding of people and their needs and uses the talents of his staff. He has good insights.”

Hardy added, “He is the perfect fit for Boulder City and I am grateful for his talents and experience.”