Lyon County preps county manager contract for Haskin

The Lyon County Commission has directed staff to prepare an employment agreement establishing Andrew Haskin as county manager.

Haskin has served in an interim capacity for three months.

Commissioner Wes Henderson, representing District 1, called for the item on Tuesday’s regular meeting initially when Haskin was appointed as interim county manager for six months in September to assess the county’s hiring process and said he has been satisfied with Haskin’s performance to date. Before that, Haskin had worked as the county’s community development director since August 2021, working under former County Manager Jeff Page, who retired suddenly in September.

Henderson said there were multiple options for the board to consider in its search for a permanent county manager, including preparing a contract for Haskin now, continue with him as interim for another three months or reopen the hiring process and seek applications from other candidates.

“I figured it’d be a good time to put it on the agenda and see how we want to move forward,” Henderson said.

Commissioner Rob Jacobson, representing District 4, called on Human Resources Director Eric Milavsky for his opinion on such a process. Milavsky said ultimately it’s up to the commission to choose the staff’s manager.

Members of the commission and the public supported Haskin and spoke in his favor for attending meetings in the past three months, being responsive and doing his due diligence on community issues. Comments also included his proactive stance on assisting with setting up warming shelters in Dayton and Yerington this weekend as expected power outages occurred due to the snowstorms, the public remarked.

Dayton resident Gina Lee said via Zoom community residents who had expressed concerns about the south side of the Carson River at a recent Dayton Regional Advisory Board meeting had walked away “feeling a lot better” after Haskin personally attended and gave “calm and reassuring” comments addressing their worries.

“Andrew has been very responsive as my boss,” county road supervisor Dustin Homan said. “He’s always there 24/7 when we’ve needed to call him.”

The motion for the contract preparation was approved 4-0.