Loveland may name new city manager, city attorney, municipal judge Tuesday

LOVELAND — The Loveland City Council will hold a special meeting next Tuesday to name a new city manager, city attorney and municipal judge.

The appointments of James Thompson as city manager, Vincent Junglas as city attorney and Jennifer Edgley as municipal judge must be ratified by a supermajority of council members, meaning six affirmative votes from the nine-member council.

The appointments would fill vacancies that have marked a year of upheaval in Loveland city government. A newly elected council, failing to assemble the supermajority needed to fire City Manager Steve Adams and City Attorney Moses Garcia, negotiated exit agreements with the pair earlier this year. Deputy City Manager Rod Wensing and Deputy City Attorney Junglas took on “acting” roles while the city considered how to fill the vacancies. Municipal Judge Geri Joneson also resigned in February, creating a clean sweep of the three positions that directly report to the council.

Those departures were followed by the resignation of Kelly Jones-Sage, the city’s economic development director, who cited a toxic atmosphere in Loveland as her reason, as well as City Clerk Delynn Coldiron and Development Services Director Brett Limbaugh 

Thompson, city manager of Scottsdale, Arizona, was one of two finalists for the Loveland city manager position. Both he and Bob Cowell, Jr., former city manager of Roanoke, Virginia, were interviewed by Loveland City Council members on Oct. 4, and Thompson was selected.

According to the resolution to be considered by the council next Tuesday, Thompson would be paid an annual base salary of $305,000 beginning on Dec. 30, along with a vehicle allowance.

Thompson, who holds a master’s degree in business administration from Regis University in Denver, had been hired as city manager in Scottsdale in 2017, retired in 2022 but was hired back. He has more than 35 years of experience in municipal government, including 28 as a city manager, and has worked in Sterling as well as in Bothell, Washington, and the Arizona cities of Tucson, Casa Grande and Bullhead City.

He has served on the Arizona State Personnel Board since 2004 and as an adjunct professor in Arizona State University’s Department of Public Affairs since 2011.

As Scottsdale city manager, Thompson was responsible for a $2.3 billion annual budget. According to a news release from the City of Loveland, he helped implement priority-based budgeting to ensure that the budget was tied to the value of services and programs. He negotiated  new economic-development projects, including headquarters for Axon International and Choice Hotels International.

He has worked with the International City/County Management Association, Federal Emergency Management Agency, International Municipal Clerks Association and Government Finance Officer Association.

Junglas joined the City of Loveland as a municipal prosecutor, was promoted to deputy city attorney in 2021 and has served as acting city attorney since Garcia left in April. Over his 13-year career, Junglas has exclusively represented municipal government. He previously worked for the City of Greeley and is affiliated with the Weld County, Larimer County, and Colorado Bar Associations, as well as the Colorado Municipal League.

His legal expertise spans areas including land use, parks and recreation, law enforcement, First Amendment issues, the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and economic development, notably negotiating the Amazon development deal in Loveland without incentives. He has addressed community issues such as youth vaping, homelessness and the encampment ban, and regularly provides the City Council with legal tools to enact policy.

Junglas graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2006 and Michigan State University College of Law in 2011.

According to the contract terms the council will consider on Tuesday, Junglas will be paid an annual base salary of $280,000 beginning Nov. 4.

Edgley, who has more than 10 years of courtroom experience as a public defender and appellate attorney, serves as a housing attorney with Colorado Legal Services, where her practice focuses on helping tenants navigate various housing-related challenges including eviction actions.

After graduating from Brigham Young University and earning a law degree at St. Thomas University, Edgley began her career as an assistant public defender in Florida, representing clients in misdemeanor and felony cases, She later advanced to become director of community integration services. She collaborated to build and implement a recidivism-reduction pilot program for the 17th Judicial Circuit in Fort Lauderdale, worked with criminal-justice stakeholders in the operation of Broward County’s Community Court, spearheaded bond-reform efforts that reduced jail overpopulation and led efforts to seek funding for the Public Defender’s office community programs.

Whereas the employment agreements for Thompson and Junglas are for “indefinite” terms, Edgley’s appointment is initially for two years, at an annual salary of $175,000. She would assume her duties Nov. 25.

If the appointments are approved, the city will continue the hiring process for each candidate before their intended start dates.

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