It turns out Live it Up! isn’t just a slogan.

Mayor Steve Bach is hiring a party planner.

The newly created full-time job in the city’s Economic Vitality and Innovation Department will pay up to $60,000 a year and assist Donna Nelson, the mayor’s economic vitality officer.

Nelson said the new events coordinator will be the city’s liaison for all city-sponsored events and also help her with administrative work.

Nelson, one of the mayor’s first hires, said the city is juggling multiple events, from Spirit of the Springs celebrations hosted by the mayor to an Olympic celebration downtown July 27, and that the workload was too much.

“I just haven’t figured out how to clone myself,” she said.

“I don’t see a change in my workload, really,” she added.

(Should the mayor hire an events coordinator? Vote in poll.)

In a follow-up message, Nelson said she is working on other “big projects” that the new events coordinator will help facilitate. They include the city’s new partnership with Fort Carson’s Adopt-a-School program.

“There were nine schools on the waiting list. Since we have started to help, there are no schools on the waiting list,” Nelson said in a message. “Currently, 35 schools participate, and we would like to double this by the end of the next school year.”

Under the program, Fort Carson soldiers go into local classrooms to mentor and tutor students. The city plans to expand the program to include police officers, firefighters and others.

Nelson said she is also working with the police and fire departments to volunteer in community centers this summer and that she hopes to expand those efforts throughout the year.

“One last noteworthy program that we are piloting this upcoming school year is ‘Ticket to Success,’ a program that will focus on leadership and mentoring middle school students as well as focusing on careers within City Government,” Nelson wrote. “We will be working with schools to offer scholarships to students who are attending local colleges and universities.”

The city received 236 applications for the new events coordinator job and narrowed it down to eight finalists. Five were interviewed Monday and three are being interviewed Tuesday. Nelson said she expects the city to make a hiring decision by Wednesday.

The events coordinator will “plan, develop, organize, implement, supervise, and facilitate annual community and other special events sponsored by the City of Colorado Springs,” according to the job posting.

“You will coordinate and maintain the special events calendar, which will include unanticipated special civic events such as the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. You will solicit the participation of multiple city agencies, private and public partnerships, and/or contracted assistance,” the job posting states.

In a recent interview, Bach said his administration eliminated 38 positions in the city workforce and that 95 positions are on hold. Every new hire must be approved by him, Bach said. Payroll is down $2 million this year compared with last, he said.