Carla Occaso
Montpelier city manager finalist candidates Kelcey Young and Kelly McNicholas Kury answered questions from residents at a public forum at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center Dec. 15. Two other candidates, Acting City Manager Kelly Murphy and finalist Woodstock City Manager Eric Duffy withdrew their candidacies prior to the forum. The city’s paid consultant, Ian Coyle of Pracademic Partners, organized the search and facilitated the forum. No decision was made, and more discussion will take place about hiring the next city manager at the city council meeting Dec. 17.
Kelly McNicholas Kury
McNicholas Kury went first, answering questions from the public read by Coyle, mostly without names attached. She said she would bring positivity and an outside perspective, which “can be a refreshing growth for all of us.”
Gary Holloway asked why she would move her family to Vermont. McNicholas Kury said she grew up in Ohio, moved to Connecticut, and then lived in California before going to the East Coast. She then traveled to West Africa and Colorado, where she currently serves as an elected county commissioner. She said she is investigating opportunities for a change in her life, and Montpelier appears to be a thriving community that offers activities she likes. She currently lives in Aspen, Colorado.
If she becomes city manager of Montpelier, McNicholas Kury said she would look at reorganizing city government’s staff “where that makes sense.” She said she would also look at institutional imbalances and seek to understand why insurance costs are so high. She observed that Montpelier has a lot of citizen boards, and said she wonders if they could be combined and reevaluated.
How would she handle our aging, failing infrastructure? Dan Jones asked via Zoom. McNicholas Kury said she would need to understand the crisis more before answering, but that she toured the city’s water and sewer plants and it “seems like there’s capacity in both plants.”
McNicholas Kury said she would build partnerships with possible grantors and “figure out if goals align” (to get them to fund infrastructure work). That tactic has been successful for her in her current community for infrastructure and housing, she said. She further said Montpelier needs to increase its resiliency because of the disaster risk here.
Responding to a question about how large a staff she manages, she said she manages two administrators and seven department heads at the county, and six people, consultants, and a contractor at a nonprofit where she works. In that environment she builds team collaboration, she said, noting that she believes more in a coaching methodology over a strict evaluation system.
And speaking of housing, McNicholas Kury talked about partnering with local governments and businesses to “become partners in the solutions.” She also promoted the idea of accessory dwelling units, where people can add on to their properties or build housing in their backyard with the expectation of quick approval of permits.
“Partnerships are going to be imperative, and figuring out how we best leverage what the city has and can do, I think, is going to set us up for success there,” McNicholas Kury said.
Montpelier resident Tom McKone asked how she deals with working with people she does not get along with, or does not agree with. McNicholas Kury said she looks for ways to compromise.
And Peter Kelman asked about her budgeting philosophy, to which she responded that budgeting needs to be done in support of the strategic plan.
Per a press release about her background: McNicholas Kury is a local government professional with 12 years of city and county leadership and over 20 years in strategic planning, budgeting, and community engagement. As a Pitkin County Commissioner, she said she manages multiple executives and a staff of 375, stewards a $258 million budget, and advances major initiatives in housing, sustainability, and infrastructure. McNicholas Kury is also the executive director of the Roaring Fork Community Development Corporation, where she oversees fundraising, management of a multimillion-dollar construction project, and compliance with government grants. She is experienced in intergovernmental coordination, public engagement, and organizational development. McNicholas Kury holds a Master of Arts in democracy and governance from the University of Denver and is completing her Certified Public Manager accreditation at the University of Colorado School of Public Affairs.
Kelcey Young
Young spoke next, answering the same questions asked of McNicholas Kury earlier in the evening. Young resigned in late November as city manager of Pinole, California, 15 months after taking the position there, according to reporting in the East Bay Times. She was also one of four finalists for the city manager position in Page, Arizona, in October 2025, according to a report in the Lake Powell Chronicle. She resigned from her role as city manager in Sweet Home, Oregon, after two years in the position, citing a need for more health care services for her family and having been bullied with death threats and violence on the job, according to the Albany Democrat Herald.
Addressing her short tenures at her previous two city manager jobs, she told the forum in Montpelier that she left the job in Sweet Home over safety concerns; but the only explanation she offered for leaving Pinole was that city managers don’t last long there because of “contextual challenges.” Although her time there was brief, Young said she got rid of the budget deficit and set a five-year paving plan while serving as city manager.
Young made it clear that after moving around frequently recently, she would like to settle down and stay in one spot for a while. She said she is a single mother who is supporting her mother and has a “strong desire for stability and a long-term role moving forward.” She went on to say, “I would like to stay somewhere for at least the next 10 years. Personally, it would be so much better for me and my family to not move.”
As for how she would deal with Montpelier’s aging infrastructure, Young said any city built before 1990 has aging infrastructure, and there are “a lot of different ways to come up with various funding.” Just start chipping away at it sooner rather than later because the costs are currently the cheapest they will ever be “just as we are the youngest we will ever be,” she said.
Additionally, Young said she would like to see more housing. She said she was interested in the Country Club Road property, which she thought was gorgeous “even with all the snow.” She also wants to complete a five-year paving plan and create partnerships with surrounding cities.
And, she touted her ability to bring in grant funds, saying “I would like to bring in at least 10 times my salary, which is normally what I do. I have a track record of doing that.”
Young said she views Montpelier as a city of opportunity that is really neat, full of educated people, and really cool. “I am still scared of the snow, but my teenage boys love the idea,” she said. She acknowledged the city’s challenges, including opinionated people and a deteriorating infrastructure.
A press release about her background stated that Young has over a decade of government service in Texas, California, and Oregon, and most recently served as city manager of Pinole, California, where she guided capital projects, strengthened financial stability, and built strong partnerships with residents, businesses, and regional agencies. She said she is a “Lean Six Sigma Black Belt” (a certification program for professionals) with a track record of using data, listening, and collaboration to improve services and deliver visible results. She has a strong background in finance and said she has resolved multiple city deficits.
Young’s bio from the city also states that she has helped lead community revitalization efforts in Sweet Home, Oregon, including the Let’s Paint the Town initiative, which brought volunteers, businesses, and local government together to renew storefronts and strengthen pride in the downtown. She has also worked closely with service providers, faith communities, and public safety partners to address homelessness, expanding shelter options and supportive services while maintaining community safety and vibrancy. Young holds a Master of Science in environment and community and a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies, both from California State Polytechnic University.
Cassandra Hemenway contributed to this report.
