I'm District 6 - Roy Otto
A student. A city manager. A public school champion.
Roy Otto moved to Greeley when he was in the ninth grade. He admits it wasn’t easy at first. Like any awkward teenager, he struggled to make friends and connections.
But when he joined the basketball and track teams, life at John Evans Junior High School and Greeley West High School became much better.
“There is no place I would have rather been than at school in Greeley in District 6,” said Otto, city manager for Greeley.
He said coaches, principals and teachers pushed him to do his best, and now he wants to return the favor.
“I believe the youth of this community are our crown jewels,” Otto said. “I want to make sure they are treated as I was treated when I went through District 6. I was given a lot and I am blessed to be back home in a role that maybe gives me some influence. I need to communicate with the community as a whole about the importance of the school district and the real, incredible, quality work the district does.”
Although his strong connection to Greeley West makes for some friendly sparring with his bosses on the City Council - most of whom graduated from Greeley Central High School - Otto said he has been blessed to work with other strong education advocates. From helping to create a program that allows all students to ride the city bus for free to forming the Achieving Community Excellence organization that helps advocate for education, Otto’s actions speak louder than his words.
“It’s really fun to be back home doing my dream job,” Otto said. “And, I love the fact that my job has given me the opportunity to work a lot with the school district. Anything I can do to help District 6 do the important work they do, I am all in.”
“Investing in the future says a lot about a community,” Otto said. Strong public schools help create a strong workforce, a thriving local economy and help build the kind of community where people want to live, work and raise their families. For Otto, supporting District 6 is a labor of love.
“It’s deeper than that,” he said. “It’s a soul connection.”