August 2026 Message from Councilmember Libby Urner Wennstrom

August 6, 2025
 

City Council, City Manager, City Staff – Who does what?

A question I’ve been asked a lot recently is “Why does Port Townsend have a City Manager? What do they even do?”

Port Townsend, along with 54 other Washington cities, uses the “Council-Manager” form of city government. In 1998, a local citizen-led petition to change to Council-Manager government was approved by over 65% of Port Townsend voters, and in 1999, Port Townsend hired its first City Manager. Changing to Council-Manager has become increasingly common in recent decades, particularly for smaller cities. 24 Washington cities have switched to Council Manager since 1970. Other similar-sized neighboring cities who also use Council-Manager government include Sequim, Port Angeles, Bainbridge Island, and Shelton. Council-Manager cities are required to have a City Manager. The details for how Council-Manager cities are organized is laid out in state law (RCW 35a.13).

Can we switch back to “Strong Mayor?”

It’s possible for a city to change its form of government, but doing so would be a multi-year process, requiring a ballot measure to approve (or reject) the proposed change, and a special election to elect a new mayor and council. One of the advantages of the Council-Manager system is that hiring someone with significant professional experience in city management lets the City reap the benefits of that specialized municipal government expertise over the long haul, while also “insulating” day to day administration from political swings each time a new Mayor is elected. Nearly all “strong mayor” cities also employ a City Administrator, and often also a deputy City Administrator or similar role, in addition to paying a salary for a full time Mayor.

Roles and responsibilities

In a Council-Manager city, the elected City Council (which includes the mayor, who’s one of the elected councilors) is the legislative body that sets overall City policy and priorities. The Council chooses a “ceremonial mayor” who acts as the presiding officer for Council meetings and publicly represents the City, but has no other duties in day-to-day City administration.

The Council hires and manages a professional City Manager, who directs daily operations for the City, manages all other City staff, and prepares the City budget for approval by Council. By state law, the Council must select a City Manager  “…solely on the basis of his or her executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to his or her actual experience in, or his or her knowledge of, accepted practice in respect to the duties of his or her office.” 

The City Manager effectively acts as the “Executive Branch” for the City, handling the day to day management of City operations. The RCW covering how Council-Manager cities work specifically prohibits the Council from interfering with the manager's administration. City Council hires, fires and manages only one staff member, the City Manager. All other City staff report to the City Manager.

Hiring a new City Manager - What’s next?

Port Townsend has had only two City Managers – John Mauro (2019-2026) and David Timmons (1999-2019). The fairly long tenure of both our City Managers has given us a lot of stability (average stay for City Managers is around 5 years). But it means that the process of hiring a new City Manager is unfamiliar for many residents.

Short Term: Appointing an Interim City Manager

When a City Manager leaves, it’s common practice to have someone – often existing City staff in a Director or similar leadership role – take on the City Manager’s duties on an acting or interim basis during a transition period. How that process unfolds in Port Townsend is a series of decisions that will made by the City Council.

Washington has fairly unusual tax structure and land use laws, so already being familiar with Washington City administration would be a big plus in a City Manager candidate. Most cities hiring senior administrators – for both Council-Manager and Mayor-Council cities – contract with a recruiting organization that specializes in recruiting municipal leadership. And professional organizations like the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), and Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) can also provide resources, guidance, and insights into how other cities have approached similar questions.

On July 27^th, City Council held a special “Workshop” meeting to have preliminary discussions about leadership transition planning and possible approaches to hiring a new City Manager. Multiple councilors expressed interest in making sure to allow adequate time for a significant public input process, helping to define what we’re looking for in a new City Manager.

At the August 3^rd Council Business meeting, Council moved forward with the process of appointing current Public Works Director Steve King to serve as Interim City Manager, with the intention of having King then transition into a new Deputy City Manager role once the City Manager is hired. The Deputy City Manager, in addition to ensuring continuity of operations and preserving institutional knowledge, would focus on managing efforts around Economic Development and Housing, both priorities identified as needing a dedicated staff position at the July 13^th City Workplan Retreat. King has a background in Economic Development as well as Public Works management. Council has tasked staff with developing a job description for the new Deputy Manager position.

How can I get involved/learn more?

If you’re interested in learning more about the process of selecting a new City Manager, now is a great time to get involved. Council meetings are held at 6pm on the first three Mondays of each month, either in person in City Council Chambers in historic City Hall, or remotely over Zoom. You can see the agendas for upcoming Council meetings (usually available the Thursday before Monday’s meeting). Council meetings are all recorded, so if you can’t make it to a meeting, you can watch it later. To locate a recording, on the City’s Agendas & Videos page, scroll down to Archived Videos & Agendas and then click City Council Archives to show a list of meetings and links for the recordings for each meeting.