2nd largest Pierce County city hiring a new city manager. Meet the finalists
The city of Lakewood is hiring a new city manager to replace John Caulfield, who announced he would retire in June after nearly 12 years.
Earlier this month the Lakewood City Council announced five finalists in the running to replace Caulfield. They were chosen after a nationwide search. They are Mark Freitag, Teri Killgore, Scott Pingel, Doug Russell and Harold Stewart. Caulfield made about $241,000 in 2023, according to the latest city salary report.
The public will have an opportunity to meet the finalists during a reception June 10 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the McGavick Center Ballroom at Clover Park Technical College. There residents can ask the candidates questions and provide input. Anonymous comment cards will be collected and reviewed by the council prior to finalist interviews on June 11, according to the city. There will be light refreshments, the city said.
Here’s some information about each candidate, as compiled by the City of Lakewood:
▪ Freitag served in the U.S. Army from 1988 until 2014 when he retired as a colonel after serving as the Garrison Commander at Fort Hood in Texas and deputy commander for Fort Wainwright in Arkansas, according to a summary shared by the city. He served as city manager for the city of Janesville, Wisconsin and most recently the city of Westminster, Colorado.
▪ Killgore works as the economic development director for the city of Scottsdale, Arizona. She has worked in public service since 1995 and has served as a downtown-redevelopment manager for the city of Chandler, Arizona, the city manager’s assistant in San Jose and the assistant city manager for the cities of Vallejo and Walnut Creek in California.
▪ Pingel has 15 years of experience as a city manager in Washington and Oregon, including as city manager of Fircrest for five years. He also worked as a city manager in Stanfield and Dayton, Oregon. He has been the city manager of Newcastle, Washington since 2022.
▪ Russell has served as the city manager of Kalispell, Montana since 2012. He began a career in city management as the town administrator of Lovell, Wyoming in 2004 and has worked as a city manager for Arkansas City in Kansas and Yankton, South Dakota.
▪ Stewart has served as the city manager of Minot, North Dakota since 2021. He has held city manager positions with the city of Ogallala (in Nebraska), Knoxville (in Iowa) and Warrensburg (in Missouri) and began his public-service career with Douglas County in Kansas in 2005.
