De La Torre officially takes over as City Manager

Carlos De La Torre began his new job as City Manager on July 2.

He was approved by a 6-1 vote at the June 21 special City Council meeting.

De La Torre was born in Douglas and attended school in both Douglas and Agua Prieta.

He has over 16 years of municipal management experience in the areas of capital improvements, operations, economic development laws and finance. He also worked for the City of Bisbee as an Interim City Manager/Public Works Director and was a Senior Engineering Associate with the City of Tucson.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1996 and Master of Business Administration in 2006 from the University of Arizona.

De La Torre worked for Cochise County as Community Development Director for two years and left to take the position with the City of Douglas.

He feels that working for the City of Douglas will give him the opportunity to make a difference.

“We need to look at ways of how we can finance and implement some of the major capital improvements the city need, such as the streets and water and waste infrastructure,” De La Torre said. “We need to prepare for the future and invest in the community.”

De La Torre is looking forward to working with Mayor Danny Ortega Jr.

“He’s got a lot of energy and a lot of ideas and my goal is to provide him the support he needs to get his projects and visions taken care of,” he said.

One of De La Torre’s goals for the City is to provide the services that are essential to the community.

“We got to go back to the basics,” he said.