Tacoma council names new city manager, capping off series of leadership changes
Hyun Kim is set to serve as Tacoma’s new city manager, a position that plays a critical role in the city’s council-manager form of government.
The Tacoma City Council in a unanimous vote at its March 3 meeting selected Kim, who has since last year served as Tacoma’s interim city manager, after he participated in a series of interviews with the Tacoma City Council and Tacoma residents in a search process that began late last year.
Kim could earn between $309,566 to $376,500 according to the city’s website, but the exact amount won’t be final until Tacoma’s human resources department outlines an employment contract, city spokesperson Maria Lee told The News Tribune. As interim city manager, he currently earns $309,566.
Several Tacoma City Council members spoke of Kim’s extensive knowledge of city budgets, his familiarity with the South Sound region and of his dedication to the job at the March 3 meeting.
“This is what I believe Tacoma needs,” Deputy Mayor Joe Bushnell said of Kim.
The council’s selection of Kim comes in contrast to what public commenters at the meeting said – most of whom spoke in support of Yolanda Lewis, the only other candidate in the running for the job. She has worked as the executive vice president for justice and health at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute based in Texas. Commenters supportive of her ranged from groups like the Pierce County Central Labor Council to the Tacoma NAACP.
“Tacoma needs disciplined leadership. Tacoma needs honest communication. Tacoma needs a city manager who can unite performance with purpose,” Alice Phillips, president of the Pierce County Central Labor Council, said at the meeting. “Yolanda Lewis is that leader.”
Only two speakers spoke in support of Kim: Patrick McElligott from the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 31 and Oliver Webb, executive director of the Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound.
“Tacoma is a labor city, and Hyun has the experience that labor unions need. As a city manager, understanding collective bargaining, workers rights, employers rights, benefits, pensions, impact bargaining, fair labor practices and all other nuances that come from dealing with labor and labor leaders is of extreme importance,” McElligott said.
Kim comes to the role after longtime city manager Elizabeth Pauli left the position in July. Pauli said at the time that she was leaving the role for retirement but later that year she joined Prothman Co. – an Issaquah-based executive-recruiting firm that the city of Tacoma paid to manage the city manager search process.
The search cost the city between $70,000 and $75,000, Lee told The News Tribune in October. That includes costs related to in-person candidate interviews and a $19,500 contract with Prothman.
In a statement to The News Tribune, Prothman CEO Sonja Prothman said Pauli joined the company on Dec. 2, 2025, and has not been involved in the recruitment process for the Tacoma city manager position and has not been in contact with the city or with Cliff Moore, the Prothman consultant who has been working with the city on its recruitment process.
“There is no conflict of interest,” she wrote.
Kim will serve as the manager in Tacoma’s council-manager form of government. That form of government involves an elected council that appoints a city manager to serve as the city’s chief executive officer and the head of the city’s administrative branch.
Kim could begin as Tacoma’s city manager this April or May, according to the city’s website. He will come into the role as the city contends with a structural budget deficit – in which expenses consistently exceed revenues in a way that can’t be addressed with a one-time infusion of cash.
Prior to his appointment as interim city manager, Kim was the deputy city manager for internal services in Tacoma and prior to that served as Fife city manager. In interviews with the council, Kim said he’d approach the permanent job with “disciplined, transparent and collaborative management.”
The council’s vote at its March 3 meeting extended an offer of employment to Kim, pending his passage of a background check and an agreement to an employment contract.
The offer comes as the culmination of a series of leadership changes at the city. The council added now-Mayor Anders Ibsen and at-large position 6 council member Latasha Palmer following November’s election.
The city was also searching for a new permanent police chief after former chief Avery Moore resigned in February 2025. Hyun Kim, as Tacoma’s interim city manager, recommended Patti Jackson for the role last month, after she served as the department’s interim chief. Jackson was officially sworn in as permanent chief on Feb. 26.
