Tacoma will need a new city manager. Here’s why you shouldn’t expect a permanent hire soon
Tacoma expects to have an interim city manager in place by May, shortly before Elizabeth Pauli retires, but will leave the decision on the next permanent top city administrator to council members after the November election, officials said this week.
Pauli, who’s stepping down effective July 1 after eight years in the role and nearly three decades in the city, announced her plans to retire earlier this month.
Instead of immediately embarking on a costly recruitment for someone to permanently fill Pauli’s post, the City Council anticipates identifying a short-term replacement over the next few months.
“I think that is the best process for us because I think the selection of a permanent city manager, seeing as we’re on such a short time line, should be that of the next full council,” Mayor Victoria Woodards said during a study session Tuesday.
The current terms for five of the council’s nine members, including Woodards, expire in December, according to the city. As such, there’s a chance the council will have a different makeup following the election.
Ongoing work to address the city’s structural budget deficit and potential conversations about changing the city’s form of government added to lingering uncertainties and made hiring a new permanent city manager right now more difficult, Woodards said.
“I do think in our current financial situation, to take a chance and to spend all that money, not to get a good candidate or the right candidate, would not be good use of our funding,” she said.
During the study session, where city lawmakers discussed the process for bringing on an interim city manager, Human Resources director Shelby Fritz proposed a timeline for choosing the short-term hire. Planning would occur in February and March and candidate interviews in April, she said, allowing the interim city manager to begin in May to provide some overlap with Pauli.
While there would typically be public input afforded for a permanent hire, Woodards said it was not the case for interim appointments, leaving it unclear how much weigh-in, if any, the public will have in deliberations to pick a city manager who’s only expected to hold down the fort until a search begins for a longer-term top administrator.
Fritz said the city won’t hold a formal application process for the interim role and instead will proactively seek experienced candidates willing to take on a short-term assignment.
Polled on their priorities for the job, the City Council highlighted five competencies Tuesday: Lawmakers said they want an effective communicator who instills trust, is action-oriented, cultivates innovation and ensures accountability.
