PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners didn’t know until Thursday that a finalist candidate for county administrator had been fired from his former post.
Although Edward Williams’ application said he had been terminated, a news release the county issued Wednesday said he had retired.
Williams was dismissed without explanation by Reno County, Kan., commissioners Aug. 31, 2005.
On his application to Clallam County, he said his termination was “probably related to my applying elsewhere.”
However, the daily newspaper in Hutchinson, the Reno County seat, said the firing followed by only a day commissioners’ complaints he had mishandled a search for a corrections director.
Marjorie Upham, Clallam County personnel chief, wrote Wednesday’s announcement. She said she had mistakenly assumed Williams had retired based on his 31 years in public service.
Williams actually had retired from an administrator’s job in McLean County, Ill., that he held before going to Kansas.
