PORT ANGELES — The City Council has kicked off its search for a new city manager, agreeing Tuesday to set an annual salary of up to $145,000.
That’s $12,000 less than what former Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers made before he left earlier this month for the same top city executive position in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Council members voted 4-2 at their work session — with council members Sissi Bruch and Max Mania opposed — to set a salary range of between $130,000 and $145,000 for the position, not including benefits, and also approved a four-page job description.
“We’ll be recruiting through June, probably,” city Human Resources manager Bob Coons said Wednesday.
“I’m hoping we hire a city manager by the end of August, if not sooner.”
Mayor Cherie Kidd, who was absent from the meeting, is recovering from surgery, Deputy Mayor Brad Collins said.
Lower range
Mania and Bruch said they favored a range of between $115,000 and $125,000.
“I’d be comfortable going with $120,000 or even $115,000,” Bruch said.
Greg Prothman, president of Prothman Co., the Issaquah-based executive search firm that was hired for $17,500 plus expenses to find suitable candidates, originally had recommended a high range of $150,000.
“I’ve done 15 to 20 searches in the last few years,” Prothman told council members, adding that a top range of $135,000 “will be adequate to attract a good candidate.”
Public Works and Utilities Director Glenn Cutler makes $130,472, followed by City Attorney Bill Bloor at $119,402.
The number of candidates willing to earn less than the highest-paid department head “is pretty limited,” Prothman said.
Prothman also noted that the city of Port Angeles operates its own utilities department, which he added is a rarity in Washington state.
Prothman said he will mail out 800 to 900 application queries and place seven or eight advertisements this week at a total cost of about $3,500 to $4,000, which will be paid in addition to his $17,500 contract.
The search will extend to 11 states west of the Mississippi, with applications due June 27.
The application packets will include a four-page brochure that describes “opportunities and challenges” under which the successful candidate will “address the impacts resulting from the recent dismissal of the finance director,” Yvonne Ziomkowski.
“The department is currently experiencing significant staffing issues and hiring a permanent finance director will be top priority,” the brochure says.
Ziomkowski was fired March 15 for violating city policy for cashing out vacation and sick days.
She was among 11 city employees, including Myers, who received cash-outs since 2004 that exceeded limits set by city policy, according to a Peninsula Daily News investigation.
Myers repaid $1,442, while Ziomkowski was allowed to keep $32,867 in overpayments and repaid $28,862.
Myers’ interim replacement, city Fire Chief Dan McKeen, was allowed to keep his leave of $11,431 because it was approved by then-City Manager Mike Quinn.
Byron Olson, former Sunnyside deputy city manager and chief financial officer, was recruited by Prothman and selected by the City Council to serve as interim city finance director beginning May 17 for up to six months.
Other “opportunities and challenges” listed in the brochure include building “trusting relationships between the council, city manager, staff and the community”; developing a city budget that “includes developing a fair approach for addressing budget shortfalls”; and development of a 2012-2013 work plan “that will coordinate and further the council’s goals and objectives.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.