Commissioners Select New County Manager

Churchill County commissioners selected Chris Spross as the top candidate for county manager in a special commissioners meeting held Wednesday. Spross was chosen from a pool of four applicants that included two local residents and two experienced managers.

Spross is the current assistant Churchill County manager and was hired into that newly created position in March 2024. Prior to that, he served as director of the county’s Public Works and Planning Department for three years.

Following several hours of interviews, commissioners ranked each candidate on a scale of 1 to 4 to indicate their top selection. Chief Civil Deputy District Attorney Joe Sanford compiled the rankings and read the averages for each applicant. Spross emerged as the top candidate, with Jennifer Savage close behind as the second choice.

Commissioner Matt Hyde told Savage he appreciated that she did her homework, read the county’s Master Plan and referred to it several times during her interview. Hyde said he wished they had two positions to offer, and added that Spross impressed him with his answers regarding leadership. Commissioner Myles Getto said Spross “had the upper hand over Ms. Savage” because he’s currently employed by the county and knows its issues intimately.

The Human Resources manager and District Attorney’s Office will next negotiate an employment contract with Spross. Commissioners will meet in another special meeting June 12 to review the contract and formally offer the position to Spross at the negotiated salary. Sanford said if the commission doesn’t accept the terms, they may decide to make a different offer or extend an offer to Savage.

Applicants included Chris Spross, Jennifer Savage, Leif Steinbaugh and Peter Jankowski.

Spross joined the county in 2020 and helped manage the construction of the Rafter 3C Arena. Prior to that, he spent 30 years in the mining and construction industry, including 12 years at A&K Earth Movers. His résumé shows he climbed the ladder from construction engineering jobs to vice president, division manager and president. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from Saskatchewan Polytechnic, holds several leadership certificates, and has two contractor’s licenses.

Savage is originally from Montana and currently works at the Gresham, Oregon, Police Department as administrative director. She has experience in project management, budgeting and finance, and held several management roles at state health services agencies in Montana and North Carolina. She holds a degree in public relations and an MBA focused on project management.

Steinbaugh is a retired Navy captain who resides in Fallon and currently works as a military contractor. A former Naval aviator, he served as the commanding officer of NAS Fallon from 2013 to 2016 and as director of the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC) at NAS Fallon from 2016 to 2020. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA with a focus on finance. He served briefly with the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office and is a volunteer firefighter with the Fallon Churchill Fire Department.

Jankowski currently lives in Arizona and has experience as a town administrator in several small communities in Maine, Massachusetts and Arizona. He was hired as the Mesquite city manager in 2002 and was most recently the town manager in Surfside, Florida. He holds a degree in economics and is a licensed attorney.