As the City of Cody prepares to hire a new parks, recreation and facilities director, it’s inviting the public to meet the finalists. The four contenders range from a teacher who works with Arizona inmates to a current supervisor in Cody’s recreation department.

Each of the finalists is set to attend a public reception that will run from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Paul Stock Aquatic and Recreation Center.

One of the candidates is a familiar face for Cody residents. Mike Fink is the city’s current recreation, aquatics and public facilities superintendent. He’s been with the city for nine years and currently oversees 15 permanent staffers and more than 50 seasonal workers.

The other three finalists hail from out-of-state.

Josh Clevenger serves as the recreation services supervisor for the City of Milpitas, California. In the Silicon Valley city of over 80,000 residents, Clevenger oversees a $2.5 million budget, five full-time employees and 160 part-time staffers. His past experience includes managing municipal recreation departments in Las Vegas and owning a competitive cheerleading gym.

Kathleen Finlayson is a certified education program teacher for the Arizona Department of Corrections in Yuma (population 96,000), where she helps adult inmates with literacy and high school and GED curricula. In addition to past experience teaching at the K-8 and college levels, Finlayson previously coordinated recreation programs in Prescott and Chico Valley, Arizona.

Danny Keyes is currently the parks and recreation manager for the City of Milbank, South Dakota (population 3,544), where he oversees six fulltime and 48 part-time employees and a $1.2 million budget. Keyes has 30 years of experience working in parks and recreations in communities ranging from Pinedale to Montana, Alaska, Idaho, Arizona, California and Minnesota.

Following Thursday night’s community reception, all four finalists will be interviewed Friday by a panel of community members, City of Cody staffers and City Administrator Barry Cook. The listed salary range is $102,292 to $113,629.

The city’s previous parks, recreation and facilities director, Rick Manchester, served in the role for 15 years before retiring in December. To replace him, city officials enlisted the Colorado Springs-based firm KRW Associates to launch a nationwide search at a cost of “not to exceed $19,000.” The effort ultimately drew 33 applicants. 

Last week, the Cody City Council agreed to hire KRW again to help find a new city planner, as Todd Stowell is departing the role after more than a decade on the job. The city will pay up to $12,500 for the assistance.

City of Powell officials, meanwhile, are paying KRW $19,500 for help with their ongoing search for a new police chief. The firm’s proposal said the process could include a community reception.