SEQUIM — “Golden parachutes,” among other things, tripped up the City Council as it sought to hire a city manager over the weekend, council member Bill Huizinga said.
The candidates for Sequim’s top job knew its salary range — $95,000 to $115,000 — when they came to town Friday for a public reception, plus interviews all day Saturday.
But after hours of negotiations Saturday night, the three finalists went away, leaving Sequim without the manager city officials hoped would take over in January.
The three candidates were Curt Carver of Inverness, Ill., Alan Lanning of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Jim Southworth of Monroe.
Huizinga said the council ultimately settled on two candidates who “would have worked well.”
Negotiations broke down, in part, over the package the city manager would get if fired, Huizinga added.
Bill Elliott, city manager since 2000, was dismissed by the council on May 5, and walked away with $152,318 in severance pay thanks to a clause in his contract.
City managers can be a peripatetic breed, serving as they do at the pleasure of city councils, Huizinga has said.
“They can create a situation where they will get canned, if they want to,” he said.
Fringe benefits
Fringe benefits also muddied the negotiations.
Some cities provide their chiefs with cars, continuing education and rich reimbursements for moving and other expenses, but “with our budget, we just can’t do all that,” Huizinga said.
Two of last weekend’s finalists came from far-higher-paying jobs, he added.
Then, at the start of Monday’s council meeting, the members heard more sobering news from Police Chief and Interim City Manager Robert Spinks.
Spinks announced he’s been diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, a benign growth on his left auditory nerve.
He’d sensed some hearing loss lately, and a visit to otolaryngologist Robert Craven of Port Angeles revealed that he has a slow-growing tumor. Left untreated, it would be fatal, reported Spinks, who’ll turn 50 on Dec. 2.
Search firm
Spinks urged the council to hire Prothman, a Bellevue-based executive search firm, to find another interim city manager and begin recruitment of a permanent manager.
The council voted 4-1 for that recommendation, with members Erik Erichsen dissenting and Ken Hays abstaining.
The city will contract with Prothman to also recruit a public works director to replace James Bay, who retired last April. City Engineer Bill Bullock is serving as interim public works chief.
Spinks said he’ll continue as interim city manager until Prothman finds a replacement. He plans to go to Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle later this month to schedule surgery to remove his tumor.
Spinks also said he’ll attend the Washington Association of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs conference in Pasco next week; while he’s away, City Attorney Craig Ritchie will be acting city manager.
The conference will run from Monday through Thursday, but Spinks asked Ritchie to fill in this Saturday through Nov. 23.
As for his three to seven days in the hospital plus recovery time at home, Spinks hasn’t decided who will serve as acting city manager.
He said on Tuesday that he doesn’t yet know when he’ll go into surgery or how long it will take him to recuperate.
“In the best of all situations,” he added, “Prothman will be able to get people and projects in place before my surgery.”
“This would allow me to return to my duties as chief of police after I recuperate.”
Sequim Police Lt. Sheri Crain is acting chief in Spinks’ absence. Crain is recovering from recent knee surgery, and will return to light duty next week.
On Monday night, Hays expressed empathy for Spinks, though he was reluctant to hire a headhunter so quickly.
“I think the chief [Spinks] has just about worn himself out,” Hays said, adding, “I’m still in shock,” over the collapse of negotiations with the city manager candidates on Saturday.
“I’ve never been so disappointed, and unable to sleep.”
In an interview, Hays emphasized that the council members had “stood united” as they moved through the process of choosing the finalists and deciding which two were best-qualified.
Months ago, the council opted to hire retired Bainbridge Island city manager Lee Walton to recruit city manager candidates, instead of using a firm such as Prothman.
The move was seen by some members as a fresh approach that could save the city some money.
Money for search
Sequim budgeted $25,000 in 2008 for the city manager search, said city Administrative Services Director Karen Goschen.
Though Walton hasn’t sent an invoice yet, Goschen expects his services will cost about $3,000.
Another $2,000 went into advertising the job opening, and $800 was spent on food for the candidates and public reception last weekend.
Goschen said the bills for the finalists’ travel have yet to arrive.
Spinks, meantime, promised that Greg Prothman, president of the executive search firm, will meet with the City Council members soon.
But Prothman’s search for Sequim’s permanent city manager won’t begin until spring.
Next September will be the target for hiring, Spinks said, so that a boss is in place before the November election that could bring in three new City Council members.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
