PORT TOWNSEND — When you look at what County Administrator John Fischbach faced as city manager in Fort Collins, Colo., Jefferson County so far looks pretty harmless.
A 500-year flood that killed five, a snowstorm that crushed buildings and the wrath of toughguy actor Mr. T are some of the career moments Fischbach shared with more than 50 people attending the weekly Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Monday.
Offering his first impressions of Jefferson County, Fischbach also offered some of his last impressions of Fort Collins, a high-pressured job supervising 1,700 city employees and managing a $480 million budget.
Jefferson County proposes a $40 million budget for 2005.
“It just got to the point where it wasn’t fun anymore,” he said candidly of the job in Fort Collins, where the flood and the snowstorm took place.
Fischbach, 58, took a nearly 50 percent pay cut to succeed former Administrator David Goldsmith in July. He brings to the county 35 years of public administration, 20 of which were served in city management.
Pressure takes its toll
During his nine years in Fort Collins, he underwent heart surgery and received five bypasses.
His heart trouble persists today.
He recently spent a short time under observation at Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend after a bout with congestive heart failure exacerbated by knee trouble that elevated his blood pressure.
After a weekend of rest, however, he returned to Jefferson County Courthouse early the following Monday to join the county commissioners’ weekly meeting.
Face to face with Mr. T
In 1986, as city manager of the Lake Forest, Ill., Fischbach met musclebound, mohawk-headed Mr. T, who took a chainsaw to clearcut more than 100 mature elm trees on his eight-acre estate.
Mr. T said they were bothering his allergies, Fischbach recalled.
“To make a long story short, I met Mr. T and came out alive,” said Fischbach, adding that today Lake Forest, a “Tree City, USA,” has a no tree-removal ordinance.
