The city recently filled two new key positions in the community services department. They are director John Nixon and library manager Joe Gunter. The city conducted a national recruiting search for the two positions before landing Nixon and Gunter. Both were on hand Saturday for an informal meet-and-greet event at the Maricopa Public Library.
Who is John Nixon?
No stranger to municipal organizations, Nixon has 23 years of experience in government operations, serving in a variety of positions working on projects such as recreation programming, special events, departmental management, grant writing, and park planning and construction. He’ll use his skills and experience to help streamline parks, recreation and libraries areas and focus on facility construction and creative management of limited resources. Nixon will also tackle expanding program offerings to the community.
“Parks, recreation and library services are such positive experiences for the community that it is incredibly rewarding to provide these services to citizens,” Nixon said. “These programs and facilities are important to people and routinely provide life-long memories.”
While eager to move forward on departmental priorities, Nixon knows that the job does not end there. “When I arrived in Prescott 18 years ago as its new recreation superintendent, I was determined to become involved in the community beyond my regular job and that’s what happened,” Nixon said. “I coached baseball and basketball for 12 years, served on the school board and many parent-school based committees. I will totally dedicate myself to Maricopa and do what I can for this fine community,” he comments.
Over the first 120 days on the job, Nixon plans to focus on relationship building – with department staff, fellow employees, the city council, the parks, recreation and library advisory board, school district, homeowners associations, the Native American community and Maricopa citizens.  |
“I need to know everything this department currently offers,” Nixon said. “I will also begin preparations with the next fiscal year budget as well as reviewing our remaining capital projects including the skate park. I will also begin studying the $20 million bonding for recreation facilities so there is much to keep me busy.” Who is Joe Gunter?
As the city’s new library manager, Gunter will be the first to tell you that he actually came to the profession as a non-user of libraries. He had a summer opportunity to work either in a library or in the parks and recreation department, and being summer in Texas, he opted for the cool indoors of the library. Now, as a professional librarian with more than 20 years of experience in public and school libraries, he has a well-rounded skill set that will serve Maricopa well.
What drives his passion for libraries? “Getting the non-user or the person who has little knowledge of what their public library can do for them into the library,” Gunter said. “The expectations that I have for myself and library personnel are that every person is given the opportunity to have a positive experience – especially with that first visit.”
In addition to the Gunter’s extensive experience in library management, he also adds a musical element to the city staff as an accomplished guitar, banjo and saxophone player. His favorite song? “Probably 'American Pie' by Don McLean,” Gunter said. “It amazes people when you know all the lyrics, and it’s usually a good sing-along-tune, followed closely by ‘Rocky Mountain High.'” Gunter says he is already kicking around some ideas for adding a musical element to library programs
Gunter has many priorities planned for his first few months. He believes learning about the community, the library staff, and the collection are key pieces. This will help him determine where any “holes” exist in the collection so he can start to search for funding, as well as make sure that the library space is as efficiently utilized as possible. “A top priority is to continue to develop partnerships with schools, businesses and various community groups,” Gunter said. “And finally, for me, the library manager, to become a presence in the community and to represent the library as a ‘cool’ place to be and show people how it fits in with the overall success of their daily lives.”
Both Nixon and Gunter hope to play an essential role in improving the quality of life in Maricopa. Photo by Joyce Hollis |