Pitkin County Commissioners appoint Kara Silbernagel as county manager

Kara Silbernagel was appointed county manager Wednesday through a special meeting of the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners, following her four month term as interim county manager. She has worked for the county for 12 years.

Silbernagel is succeeding Jon Peacock, who announced his resignation following 15 years on the job on Nov. 3, 2025.

The board acknowledged Silbernagel’s work during her time as interim manager, and all present members offered their congratulations to Silbernagel for the appointment. 

“The opportunity to be a leader of this organization and the incredible staff that make Pitkin County a place where people want to work, where people want to come visit, because of the services that we provide – and to be a steward of that – I don’t take any of it lightly,” Silbernagel said. “I am fortunate and grateful to have the incredible team behind me.” 

Silbernagel started with the county in 2014 as a “Best and Brightest Fellow” during her time at the University of Colorado, while she was studying for her Master’s degree in regional planning and public administration. 

When she began at Pitkin County, she was a policy analyst, but ultimately worked across departments, including early work on a broadband expansion effort at the county. She contributed to the Public Health, Human Services, Housing and Resiliency departments and more. 

Eventually, Silbernagel worked her way into the deputy county manager role, which “operationalizes” the policy initiatives passed down from the Pitkin County Commissioners to the county manager. 

There, Silbernagel worked on the Community Growth Advisory Committee, which created the Pitkin County Comprehensive Plan that would become known as Pitkin County Vision 2050. She also worked on the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport vision process, and was involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The county manager role, which Silbernagel has been in since late November 2025, works closely with the board and, according to Silbernagel, needs to be in touch with the community to get a sense of what future priorities are and where the county needs to direct its focus. 

“I’m focused on making sure 2026 and 2027 are successful,” Silbernagel told The Aspen Times following her official appointment. “Between the airport project and the landfill, we’re taking on Phillips (mobile home park), we’ve got huge projects with Open Space and Trails and the (airport) closure next year … That’s exciting to think about.” 

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Among her many accomplishments that Board of County Commissioner Chair Jeffrey Woodruff highlighted during the special meeting to appoint Silbernagel were grants that the county is working on securing for a litany of projects, including the airport modernization project. 

“Next week, we will sign a grant for $9.6 million from the Federal Aviation Administration, part of the 90% overall budget funding we expect for the airport runway,” Woodruff said. “Under Kara’s leadership, we filed in Q1 for almost $15 million in terminal funding, followed shortly thereafter by $5 million in Congressionally Directed Spending.” 

The commissioners unanimously approved the motion to appoint Silbernagel, which included the approval of her working contract. She will be receiving a yearly salary of $284,000, according to the contract. 

“I think Kara has done a great job, and I’m very grateful that we’re putting her in and we’re doing it as expediently as we have,” Commissioner Greg Poschman said. “This is the culmination and the continuing work that’s been going on for years, and Kara has been a part of that all along.”