Kopczynski stepped up when needed

 
 
The city of Keene, N.H., is fortunate to have had someone of ICC member Medard Kopczynski's caliber to turn to when a steady hand was needed. After stepping in to serve as city manager in 2015, Kopczynski supervised the city's airport and planning and public works projects, enforced the city's building and health codes and property standards, and oversaw building licenses. He also spent more than a decade as the city's code enforcement officer and zoning inspector.

Asked before he began as interim manager how long he hoped to hold the position, Kopczynski responded, "Hopefully as short a period of time as possible." It didn't work out that way, however, as the city council's search panel chose to revisit its search after meeting with the first round of candidates, then expanded the scope of the search. In the meantime, it removed the "interim" tag from his title.

During his almost two years in the manager's seat, Kopczynski steadily helmed the city, while also keeping his duties as an assistant city manager and health and building safety director. His experience and demeanor allowed the staff and city council to continue moving forward on major projects like the rezoning of the Marlboro Street area, and deal with large-scale proposals such as the planned overhaul of the former Keene Middle School property and conversion of the Colony Mill Marketplace to residential units.

For Kopczynski, juggling multiple jobs is nothing new. "I've been doing two or three jobs at once for years," he said. "Quite frankly, the city has really good staff. Everybody is more than willing to pitch in and help."

While he has no plans to introduce any new initiatives, he wants to ease the new city manager into a city that he or she can easily take charge of. "I'm a caretaker. That's really what I'm here for, to maintain the balance until we get some new leadership."

He plans to return to his role as health and building safety director and assistant city manager when the new person starts. "I have a lot of intimate experience with city managers, and I have no desire to be a city manager," he said. "It's never been my career goal."