Jim Pitts got his wish. After spending 20 years serving in the United States Army, Pitts had one wish when he started looking for a new career.

“I didn’t want to be bored,” the Bow Town Manager joked. “And I haven’t been.”

Pitts, recently recognized by the International City/Country Management Association for 20 years of service, has been the town manager in Bow since 2002.

As town manager, Pitts is required to have knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, ranging from budgets and policy.

“Bow has excellent department heads,” said Pitts. “I have to know enough about what they do to make sure they are doing a good job. I have to be able to say ‘That’s good,’ or ‘Hold on, let’s talk about this some more.’”

In addition, Pitts works closely with the Board of Selectmen during and, in preparation for, each meeting.

“We essentially depend on him to provide us with the issues that are policy matters,” said Selectmen Chairman Leon Kenison. “He brings the policy matters to us and we rely on him to have done a certain amount of research about whatever it is. He also has to do so impartially.”

Being involved in such a variety of aspects of the town means Pitts is constantly in touch with the community.

“I enjoy it as much as I can,” Pitts said. “If I allowed it, I could be at a meeting or social event every night. I try to be involved to the fullest extent that I can. Bow has great people.”

Kenison said the ability to research and master so many subjects is what has made Pitts successful in his role.

“One has to be prepared to know that if you don’t have information you must be able to go out and get it,” Kenison said. “I think he does that very well and he will admit when he doesn’t have all the information off hand and volunteer to go get it to the best of his ability.”

According to Pitts, one difficult aspect of his role is not always having a clear-cut solution to problems.

“Muncipal government is an extremely complex operations,” said Pitts. “Some citizens think it’s simple and everything is black and white. Sometimes it’s difficult getting people to understand how it all meshes together.”

Another aspect of being a town manager is something many government officials are faced with.

“To use a football reference, there can be some Monday-morning quarterbacking,” he said. “Everyone in town thinks they could have done it better.”