Falling just shy of becoming Tacoma’s next city manager, Lakewood City Manager Andrew Neiditz said Wednesday he isn’t looking back.
Neiditz, 58, finished second as the Tacoma City Council voted Tuesday night to hire T.C. Broadnax, 42, an assistant city manager in San Antonio.
While disappointed in the outcome, Neiditz said he was in a “good frame of mind” and wished Broadnax well in his new job.
“I have a full plate in Lakewood, with a lot of major challenges,” he said. “I’m fully engaged here. My candidacy there was never intended to diminish that.”
Three Tacoma City Council members supported Neiditz, compared to five for Broadnax. One council member backed interim city manager Ray Arellano.
Supporters noted Neiditz’s deep connections to and impressive knowledge of the area. “He can hit the ground running,” Tacoma Councilman Spiro Manthou said.
In the end, however, the majority was taken by Broadnax’s management and fiscal experience in a city with a population six times larger than Tacoma. By contrast, Lakewood has less than a third as many people as Tacoma.
Neiditz, a Lakewood resident who previously lived in Tacoma for 20 years, called the opening a “unique opportunity.”
He said he’s not seeking another job currently. But he pointed out the average tenure of a city manager is five to six years, and he must make an assessment each year of his support on the City Council. It has the authority to terminate his at-will employment at any time with a majority vote.
“I don’t want to say I’ll be here forever,” he said. “I am fully engaged and fully content doing what I’m doing now, and I believe I have the full support of the council.”
Neiditz has been Lakewood’s city manager since March 2005, the longest tenured official in that position in Pierce County. City managers oversee the daily operations of six other Pierce County cities, but the others have been on the job for no more than two years.
Lakewood Mayor Doug Richardson said the council holds no animosity toward Neiditz for applying for the job and no move was afoot to show him the door.
“Obviously, we’re excited to have him remain in Lakewood because we think he’s a good manager. We win by his staying,” Richardson said.
The elected council, which can change every couple years, also must assess Neiditz’s performance in what Richardson called “the ebb and flow of the council-manager form of government.” The council will have two new members in a couple of weeks.
Neiditz said he emailed Broadnax to congratulate him and extend an offer to introduce him to the other city managers in the area. Neiditz said he talked with Broadnax during the interview process and found him to be articulate and personable.
The two will have to work together extensively on the overhaul of the countywide 911 system and the ongoing effort to address the impacts of rapid military growth in the South Sound.
“I think he will be easy to work with,” Neiditz said.
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @TNTchill
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