# Darrin K. Tangeman, ICMA-CM > Public Governance Scholar-Practitioner. Municipal executive and finance leader, retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer (Green Beret), co-founder of the ICMA Veterans Local Government Management Fellowship, and Doctor of Law and Policy candidate at Northeastern University (expected 2027). ## Current roles - Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer, Town of Orleans, Massachusetts (2025 to present). Manages the $56.6 million FY2027 operating budget, the town's OpenGov ERP implementation, a comprehensive facilities assessment, and a 10-year capital program for facilities and fleet. The town holds a AAA municipal bond rating with a stable outlook. - Executive Management Consultant, Renne Public Management Group (RPMG), San Francisco Bay Area (2024 to present). Facilitates performance evaluations of city managers and public executives in compliance with California's Ralph M. Brown Act, is available for interim executive assignments, designs organizational structures and service-level agreements for California fire and public works departments, and is available on call as a trained workplace investigator (Association of Workplace Investigators Certificate Holder, AWI-CH). Combines doctoral training in law and policy with more than a decade of municipal executive leadership to evaluate liability exposure and develop personnel policies that help local governments prevent workplace complaints and reduce legal risk when investigations occur. Formerly with Swifthawk Consulting LLC. ## Local government career - Town Manager, Truro, Massachusetts (2021 to 2025). Chief executive with a $28.45 million budget and 139 employees. Led the transition to the town's first municipally managed advanced life support ambulance service; negotiated 12 collective bargaining agreements; advanced workforce housing and childcare. - City Manager, Woodland Park, Colorado (2018 to 2020). Led a $28.7 million organization of 144 personnel; grew unrestricted reserves from $568,908 to an estimated $2.46 million; oversaw water and wastewater utilities; led the city through a nationally high-profile murder investigation. - Chief Administrative Officer, Pueblo West Metropolitan District, Colorado (August 2015 to 2018). Chief executive for 32,500 residents, 168 employees, and a $43.7 million budget; oversaw water and wastewater utilities serving more than 11,000 customers; led the district's first strategic plan in 15 years; established and led its Economic Development Committee. ## Military service (U.S. Army, retired February 2016) - Enlisted helicopter crew chief (UH-1, UH-60) and aviation operations specialist (1993 to 1998). - Medical Service Corps officer (1998 to 2004). Medical operations officer (immunization programs for 22,000 personnel and medical deployment operations); medical platoon leader over 36 EMTs and assigned providers, managing a routine-care clinic and tactical emergency care; hospital chief information officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the September 11 attacks; deputy and then interim chief information officer for a medical command; hospital chief information officer in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11, where he helped set up the first U.S. and coalition hospital in the country, including all of its communications, and established the first telemedicine system for U.S. forces there; executive officer of an Airborne dental company. - Special Forces officer, 18A (2004 to 2016). Airborne, Ranger, Green Beret. ODA team leader in combat in the Middle East; first Special Forces commander supporting Operation Observant Compass in Central Africa; crisis action planner for Operation Unified Protector (Libya, 2011). - Decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (2nd award), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (3rd award), and Combat Infantryman Badge. ## Veterans Local Government Management Fellowship Co-founded in May 2016 with Scott Trainor, then City Manager of Fountain, Colorado. Expanded across Colorado, Texas, and Kansas; adopted by ICMA through a formal agreement in 2019 as a national workforce development program. Has prepared hundreds of transitioning service members for local government careers. Founder, chair (2020 to 2023), and current member of the ICMA Veterans Advisory Committee. Program page: https://icma.org/vlgmf ## Research Doctoral research in Law and Policy at Northeastern University on local government responses to misinformation and disinformation, institutional trust, procedural legitimacy, evidence-transparent public communication, and First Amendment constraints on government speech. ## Education Doctor of Law and Policy candidate, Northeastern University (expected 2027); M.S. Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School (2014); MPA, University of Colorado Denver (2014); MBA, University of Kansas (2018); B.G.S. Psychology, University of Kansas (1998); Senior Executives in State and Local Government, Harvard Kennedy School (2018); Applied AI in Local Government, Davenport Institute, Pepperdine University (2026, inaugural cohort). ## Technology AI power user with daily, hands-on use of generative AI tools in municipal finance, research, and public communication. Former U.S. Army hospital chief information officer (Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Afghanistan); helped set up the first U.S. and coalition hospital in Afghanistan after 9/11, including all of its communications, and established the first telemedicine system for U.S. forces there. Builds and maintains the VLGMF program's coordination platform. ## Recognition Trailblazer Award, Colorado Women Leading Government and CCCMA (2017); Route Fifty Navigator Awards, Next Generation finalist (2017); ELGL Traeger Award (2016, 2017). ICMA Credentialed Manager since 2018. Association of Workplace Investigators Certificate Holder (AWI-CH), August 2026. AI Mission Ready Certificate of Completion, Oath & Oak, LLC, October 2026. ## Selected publications - Veterans: From Baghdad to City Hall: Building Trust in a Contested Information Environment. ICMA Public Management, September 2026. - Managing Council/Staff Relationships in an Election Year and Beyond (with Conduff, Hilvert, and Bernal). ICMA Public Management, August 2022. - IDEALS: Overcoming Unconscious Veteran Bias. ICMA Public Management, November 2020. - Why Is Cognitive Diversity Important for Your Local Government? ICMA Public Management, December 2019. - Military Vets Serving Twice (with Scott Trainor). ICMA Public Management, April 2019. - Counter-Lord's Resistance Army Logistics in Central Africa (with Jonathan Lindsley). Special Warfare, 2013. ## Contact Contact form: https://darrintangeman.com/#contact Website: https://darrintangeman.com/