City Manager Kurt Fritsch, right, goes over the activity log with McCook Fire Chief Marc Harpham and Administrative Assistant Nancy Pick, at the fire department. (Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette) [Click to enlarge]

Don't expect big changes with newly-hired City Manager Kurt Fritsch.

Instead, look for progress that is slow and steady, the same kind of progress he hopes to initiate in economic development and his dealings with the city council.

Fritsch, who began his position Sept. 11, said securing jobs with sustainable wages would be one of his priorities as City Manager. But that wouldn't mean throwing money at every project that came along, he added.

"We have to be smart in how we invest our money," he said. "We can take risks, but they have to be calculated risks."

The best kind of economic development, he said, is done "building by building, sometimes brick by brick."

Along with economic development, Fritsch said he will also focus on opening up lines of communication between himself and the City Council.

To that end, each council member will get a written memo with their council packet, outlining his day-to-day operations.

He would also like to establish "briefings," where he would meet individually with each council member and clarify agenda items.

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There would be no polling of opinions and no decisions would be made at those briefings, he explained. Back-ground information of each item would be discussed so that the council will be fully knowledgeable on each matter. Nearly all of his prior positions had briefings of these sort, he said, and would help keep the council up to date on agenda items.

Despite the population difference, Fritsch said coming to McCook after managing North Las Vegas, a city of 145,000, will not be that big of a change for him.

A self-described "cowboy wanna-be," the 48-year-old said he is familiar with the rural way of life. As a child he spent summers on an uncle's farm and worked his way through college selling cattle. In addition, early in his career he was employed as a planner for rural areas of Washington.

He said although he had been offered employment in larger areas, he chose McCook for a different reason.

"I've been 'bigger' -- I'm looking more for a quality of life," said Fritsch, who is the single father of a recent college graduate.

He added that in smaller communities he will have more of a connection with people, rather than with "programs or directors."

Advantages of living in smaller communities are catching on, he said. Many baby boomers getting ready to retire are looking at areas with low crime, a relaxed pace and the opportunity to own a few acres of property.

"We have to market McCook and get the message out," he said, citing McCook's assets as the golf course, airport and easy access to a rail line. "There is definitely tremendous potential here."

The greatest strength he brings to the position, he said, is his flexibility.

"I'm not overly bureaucratic," he said. " Not everything is black and white to me -- there's a lot of gray area in most issues."

Fritsch graduated from Western Washington Univer-sity with a bachelor's degree and attended the University of Texas at Austin as a Master of Arts candidate. He was Assistant Planner in Olympia, Wash. for two years and Senior Budget Analyst for Austin, Texas, for five years.

From 1990 to 1996 he was assistant city manager for Henderson, Nev. and Deputy Director of the Colorado River Commission for the state of Nevada for one year. From 1999 to 2003, he was City Manager of North Las Vegas.