Holler a hard act to follow

When Dan Holler was named county manager on Nov. 7, 1996, The Record-Courier editorial board proudly proclaimed we were "Dan Fans."

At the time, Holler was a 36-year-old county fiscal officer who had been named interim county manager six months before in the wake of the departure of his boss, Julio Avael.

Avael's administration was a debacle. He came to Douglas from a much bigger place and there was nothing remotely Gardnerville about him.

When Holler was hired, it was a breath of fresh air. Unlike his predecessor, he wouldn't sign a contract, saying that when it was time for him to go, he wanted to just go.

A dozen years later, that time has arrived.

As county manager, Holler wore a lot of hats. There was budget wonk Dan and public event Dan and what some people referred to as "Dictator Dan."

It was that last that drew the most controversy and we feel was most undeserved.

Holler is not the first public manager to be accused of running his elected board instead of the other way around. In Holler's case that is five county commissioners elected by Douglas County voters. If, as some would have you believe, Holler was out of control, the responsibility belonged to those elected officials.

We believe Holler at least tried to follow his marching orders to diversify the county's economy, preserve the sales tax the county was hemorrhaging and try to streamline county services.

Do we agree with Holler about everything he's done? Nope.

Do we believe he was a hard worker, who gave the county its money's worth for more than a decade? Yep.

We respect Holler for his hard work, recognize his contribution and longevity in a position that rarely takes prisoners.