Hayden City Administrator Stefan Chatwin has applied for more than a half dozen jobs outside City Hall and is a finalist for a town manager position out of state.

Chatwin is among six finalists in Frisco, Colo., and he will be attending a community reception on Nov. 10, when he will give a brief presentation and members of the town's employees and the public will meet him. The following day he will be assessed by interview panels.

"I'm simply keeping my options open," Chatwin said Wednesday. "I'm starting to see what's out there."

He said in a political atmosphere - such as a city hall - it's good to keep the feelers out for other opportunities.

"There is an election coming up," Chatwin said. "One day you're in good shape, the next day somebody wants a change."

He said he applied for the job in Frisco before Mayor Ron McIntire announced he would be running for another term. The two have a close working relationship.

McIntire is running against City Councilwoman Nancy Taylor Lowery, who voted to have Chatwin's employment contract with the city terminated.

That effort to dump Chatwin in June failed.

Chatwin and Lowery have had multiple disagreements, including on the employment of Lisa Key.

Key was community development director until March of this year, when her time at Hayden City Hall ended. Officially, she resigned, she said at the time.

Key also had served as acting city administrator before Chatwin was hired. She was the second highest paid employee at Hayden City Hall at the time, earning more than $73,000 per year.

Chatwin said the result of next week's election will have an influence on his future plans.

Frisco, which did a nationwide search, had 73 people apply for the position. Frisco hired a recruiter to narrow the pool of candidates to six, said Theresa Paul, executive assistant to the town manager in Frisco.

Frisco announced Chatwin was a finalist in a press release on its website.

Chatwin said Frisco is a small resort and tourist town, near Vail. Frisco is healthy financially, and it has twice the staff size of Hayden, with less than 3,000 residents.

"There's a great family environment there," he said. Chatwin has four children.

He also said he applied for the job of vice president of community relations and marketing at North Idaho College, a job that was filled by somebody else.

Chatwin started as Hayden city administrator in March 2009. Previously, he held a similar position for the city of Santaquin, Utah, where he grew up.

He quit there after four and a half years.

From Santaquin, Chatwin went to work with a friend in the private sector. But the business wasn't doing as well as his friend had advertised, so Chatwin left after a short time, he said.