Bluffton town manager appoints two new top officials. You may recognize them
.jpg "The town of Bluffton announced Monday that Chris Forster (left) and Heather Colin (right) were appointed as assistant town managers.")
Bluffton Town Manager Stephen Steese has appointed two employees to serve as assistant town managers, filling the deputy town manager position left vacant by Scott Marshall, who resigned in May.
Former Director of Finance and Administration Chris Forster and former Director of Growth Management Heather Colin will now work as Steese’s “immediate advisors,” according to a Monday news release.
Monday’s announcement comes five months after Marshall, the town’s former second-in-command, resigned after he was passed over for the town’s top manager job. Beaufort County hired Marshall as human resources director in June.
Steese was offered the town manager job in April and began work in June. His decision to appoint two assistant town managers marks a change in organizational structure for Bluffton, which previously had only one deputy town manager.
In the news release about the appointments, Steese touted Forster and Colin’s “seasoned approach, experience and expertise” as assets to town operations.
In a phone call with a reporter Monday, Steese said the town sought only to hire internally for the position and Forster and Colin were “two great candidates.”
Forster, who briefly served as interim town manager before Steese took over, is a certified finance officer and government financial manager. In his new role, he will oversee the town’s finance and administration department, the Don Ryan Center for Innovation, economic development, municipal court, the business license division and human resources, the news release said.
He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science as well as a master’s degree of public administration from the University of Connecticut, the news release said. Forster previously worked on government consolidation and shared services efforts for the State of Oklahoma, the news release said.
Forster joined the town of Bluffton in 2019 after working as a controller for the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.
Colin, in her new role, will oversee the town’s planning and projects, the news release said. On top of continuing her job as head of the town’s growth management department, she will also be in charge of the engineering department.
She joined the town of Bluffton in 2016 after working as the development review administrator for the town of Hilton Head Island.
A certified planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners, Colin has a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Clemson University, according to the news release.
