PORT ANGELES — Rich Sill, Clallam County code enforcement manager and a former undersheriff, will become the county’s human resources director effective July 1.
County Administrator Jim Jones said Sill was chosen from a field of eight county employees in an in-house search to fill the position vacated by Marjorie Upham, who is retiring at the end of October.
“Rich has some very large shoes to fill,” Jones said in a March 30 memo to county employees that described Upham’s “25 years of exemplary service to our county.”
Jones said he is confident Sill can fill those shoes, “in part because of his completion of an intensive, 33-week-long, Clallam County-specific internship program under Marge’s direct tutelage.”
Rather than pay a firm $15,000 to $20,000 to conduct a nationwide search, the county decided to look internally first.
Sill, who was not available for comment Wednesday, volunteered to accept a partial layoff to a half-time position to shadow Upham during labor negotiations and Washington Counties Risk Pool and deferred compensation meetings as an unpaid intern.
Training completed
Sill also completed a comprehensive human resources management training and certificate program put on by the Institute for Applied Management and Law, which Jones described as “one of the most trusted HR organizations in the country.”
Jones said Sill has more than 30 years of administrative, management, labor relations, community involvement and leadership experience, the past 13 of which have been in Clallam County.
Sill earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State Polytechnic University, a master’s degree in public administration from California State University and graduated from the FBI National Academy and the California Command College.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5078, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
