Ryan McFarland

It is that time.  I’m sort of casually hunting for jobs.  I’m not going to hide it.  The last time that i did job hunting was when i was trying to move to Juneau or Anchorage to keep my marriage together.  The time before that it was because the City Manager had left and i had no idea what kind of boss i would end up with.  Well, we have a new mayor, largely new City Council, and the City Manager position is open.  That spells a lot of uncertainty for the future.  As long as i can continue to work as i have (recognizing that i do mess up on occasion) i am quite happy in my position.  I have been extremely successful in bringing grant money to town for projects.  I love feeling like i can make a positive impact on the community.  In the last 8 years i have definitely developed a sense of purpose and a knowledge of my position.  A supervisor that were to micro-manage or a significant change in direction for the department would probably be difficult for me to handle.  And i don’t want to be a difficult employee.  So it is time for me to keep my eye on jobs.  I really want to stay with the City for at least another two years though.  A position in Juneau caught my eye…

Ooooh… Parks and Landscape in Juneau!  It pays well - 64,099.62 - 73,039.98 (well over $10,000 more a year than i am paid now) and i exceed the job requirements.  The biggest problem?  It closed on October 12th.  A position in Juneau really is the best move for me right now.  I can stay in the PERS retirement system, work in a significantly larger city with a strong P&R program, and live in a city with quite a few more social, shopping, and recreational opportunities.  Of the positions in their structure the Parks Superintendent is actually the best fit with my professional strengths.  Alas, my casual approach to considering that i might need to think about possibly looking for a new job has caused me to miss perhaps the best career move at one of the most opportune times.  Maybe my approach should be more aggressive.  But as i said - i don’t want to leave - it is just looking like it might be wise to.  I had an number of people ask me not to leave the city after the pool project was built -people that must understand that without such a huge project consuming much of my time and energy that my position would feel easy in comparison afterward.