City Manager Finalists and Interview Schedule Announced

Published on December 01, 2025

HELENA, Mont. — The Helena City Commission announced today that they will move forward three finalist candidates for the position of City Manager: Janet Hawkinson (Palisade, Colo.), Alana Lake (Helena, Mont.), and Douglas Schulze (Banning, Calif.). The Commission will conduct public interviews of the finalists December 8-9, 2025. Additionally, the candidates will meet with City Leadership staff, tour the city, and engage in a public event co-hosted by the city and the Helena Citizens’ Council. Biographies of the candidates and a complete schedule of public events are listed below.

The Commission began recruiting for the City Manager position in early October and conducted a review of applicants in early November. The position is considered open until filled. To-date the recruitment process has garnered 85 applications from candidates across the country. The Commission conducted nine semifinalist interviews from Nov. 19-21.

Helena City Manager Finalist Candidates

Janet Hawkinson of Palisade, Colorado

Janet Hawkinson has more than 30 years of experience in planning, operational oversight, and leadership. Beginning her career as the owner and manager of Rocky Mountain Landscape Design & Construction in Steamboat Springs, she oversaw business operations, client development, design, construction management, team supervision, and budgeting.

Hawkinson transitioned to public service as the Director of Community Development for the Town of Minturn, Colorado, where she led major land-use, housing, and transportation initiatives. Accomplishments included supporting the master planning and review of the proposed Battle Mountain Resort; securing grant funding for streetscape, pedestrian-safety, and beautification projects; designing improvements to the town’s highway entrance; managing planning and zoning updates; and overseeing downtown revitalization and public facility enhancements.

Since 2018, Hawkinson has served as the Town Manager of Palisade, Colorado, where she provides executive leadership for all municipal operations, including police, fire/EMS, water treatment, wastewater, parks and recreation, public works, finance, planning, events, and a 14,000-acre watershed and reservoir system. She secured more than $17.5 million in grant funding, enabling over $55 million in capital improvement projects using only $3.5 million in local funds. Her accomplishments include a fully grant-funded community clinic; multimodal transportation and highway-safety improvements; a major roundabout and trail project completed in partnership with CDOT; brownfield reclamation and habitat restoration; wastewater system consolidation; historic building renovations; and substantial upgrades to transit, utilities, parks, and infrastructure. In recognition of this work, the Colorado City & County Management Association named Hawkinson 2024 Town Manager of the Year.

Hawkinson holds a Master of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of Colorado Denver and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fort Lewis College. Hawkinson highlighted her collaborative leadership style; her commitment to long-term community investment; and her interest in providing stable, multi-year executive leadership for Helena, emphasizing her deep experience in planning, capital project delivery, and organizational improvement.

Alana Lake of Helena, Montana

Alana Lake has more than a decade of military and federal law-enforcement leadership, including multiple command assignments with the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI). She led diverse, multinational teams across the United States, Asia, and the Middle East, directing large-scale counterintelligence, criminal investigation, security, and technology-protection operations. Her commands included overseas deployments in high-threat environments, leadership of geographically dispersed units, and responsibility for safeguarding thousands of personnel and billions of dollars’ worth of assets. Lake’s work involved interagency coordination with U.S. embassies, foreign governments, federal and state law-enforcement agencies, and the Department of Defense. She continues to serve as a Reserve Commander at Shaw Air Force Base and is the recipient of national-level awards.

Lake served as a counterintelligence officer at Idaho National Laboratory, the nation’s nuclear energy laboratory. She advised senior federal officials on national-security risks, protected critical infrastructure, expanded intelligence programs, and led investigative and analytical operations.

Lake currently serves as the Executive Director of the Montana Public Service Commission, where she functions as the agency’s chief administrative and operational leader. She oversees more than forty personnel, manages a $6 million budget, implements Commission directives, leads agency planning and organizational reform, and coordinates statewide regulatory initiatives in energy, telecommunications, and transportation safety. She also directs internal risk assessments, safety and

security programs, and legislative and policy coordination, serving as the primary liaison among Commissioners, agency staff, regulated industries, and intergovernmental partners.

Lake is a graduate of Montana State University, is completing her MBA at Boise State University, and is attending Command and Staff College through Marine Corps University. Lake emphasized a commitment to transparent, accountable leadership and a passion for public service, noting her intent to bring a steady, mission-focused approach to advancing Helena’s Strategic Plan, strengthening organizational performance, and supporting long-term community needs.

Douglas Schulze of Banning, California

Doug Schulze has more than 36 years of executive municipal leadership. He began his career in Minnesota and progressed through increasingly complex city management roles across Washington and California. He first served as Assistant City Administrator in Savage, Minnesota, where he managed capital projects, HR functions, IT modernization, and public communication initiatives, earning promotion from intern to a senior administrative role within a year. He then became City Administrator of Sandstone, Minnesota, overseeing a municipal airport, golf course, cemetery, volunteer fire department, and multiple public works functions. In Sandstone, he led major annexation efforts, established the city’s Housing Authority, and managed construction of new affordable housing and senior living projects.

Schulze spent more than two decades as a City Manager in three Washington communities. In Medina, he guided substantial shoreline development, oversaw financial recovery efforts, and led the police department through state accreditation. In Normandy Park, he managed the city through the recession, secured federal Recovery Act funding, and delivered key transportation and civic-improvement projects. In Bainbridge Island, he helped the city secure a AAA bond rating, guided major environmental and shoreline planning initiatives, completed capital projects, and implemented the city’s first performance management system.

Most recently, Schulze served as City Manager of Banning, California, a full-service city with electric, water, sewer, and airport operations and a total budget exceeding $100 million. He achieved the city’s first balanced budget in years, addressed longstanding structural deficits, oversaw one of the fastest-growing cities in California, and led efforts that attracted more than $1 billion in community investment.

Schulze is an active member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). He was one of the earliest managers to earn the ICMA Credentialed Manager designation in 2003 and is an ICMA Legacy Leader. He holds a master’s degree in urban studies and a bachelor’s degree in public administration. Schulze highlighted his steady, collaborative leadership style, deep experience managing full-service municipalities, his interest in the Helena community, and his commitment to helping Helena achieve long-term stability and growth.

Public Meeting Schedule

Monday, December 8, 2025

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

For more information, please contact Clerk of the Commission, Dannai Clayborn 406-447- 8409, or dmclayborn@helenamt.gov.