By BARBARA REID, Federal Way Works

There is significant debate going on in Federal Way about our form of government and precisely who should serve as the chief executive and administrative officer of the city.

Some feel it would be better handled by an independently elected strong mayor. Others feel it should remain the city manager who is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the seven-member Federal Way City Council. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to look at the job the person is entrusted to do and who is better suited to successfully perform those complex and difficult duties.

First, the job itself is not a small or easy job. Our city government is a $47 million operation, with $36 million of that in the operating budget. There are seven independent functional departments providing a wide range of diverse technical services. Those departments are staffed by 362 full-time employees — over half of which are unionized under collective bargaining agreements.

The position of CEO of the city involves highly legalistic and technical functions that carry significant liability and cost implications, have many potential operational complications and multi-jurisdictional impact.

The current job description on file with the human resources department of the city for the city manager position requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in public administration or a related field, and eight years experience working in a government agency (including at least four years of responsible management experience in municipal government). The city manager is contractually required to abide by a professional code of ethics from the International City Management Association.

Under the proposed change pursuant to RCW 35A.12.100, the strong mayor shall be the chief executive and administrative officer of the city. There are no qualifications required of the mayor except to get elected, and no requirement that he/she abide by any code of ethics. There is nothing that would require him/her to hire a professional administrator trained to carry out the day-to-day duties of running the city.

In fact, the mayor may very well say that it is his/her statutory obligation to be the CEO and administrator. What that means is essentially, a person who dropped out of school in the sixth grade who has never supervised or managed a single employee, and may not even be able to balance their own checkbook, could become mayor if popular enough and become the chief executive officer of the city. Popularity trumps qualifications in this scenario. Think it can’t happen? Look around the country and you will find many cities who have found themselves in this very situation.

The central issue in all of this is really the competence of the individual holding the most important position in our government structure. Currently, the city manager possesses a bachelor’s degree in public administration, a law degree with eight years of experience as a city attorney, followed by several years as a city manager in a large urban area similar to ours.

In addition, he has achieved status as a designated Certified Manager by the International City Management Association after participating in advanced training and proficiency testing in a wide range of topics related directly to managing the functions of the city. Are we just going to throw that away? It hardly makes sense.

Federal Way needs a professional manager as CEO who has the knowledge, experience, skills and ability to move us forward.

Federal Way Works committee: Barbara Reid (chair), Ed Opstad (treasurer), H. David Kaplan, Jim Burbidge, Mary and Tom Ehlis, Ron Gintz, Jerry and Carol Vaughn, Bill Gates, Peg and Jay Altman, Monte Powell, Sandy and Mike Petitt, Sandra and George Jackson, Pete and Brenda Sanchez, Peggy and Dennis LaPorte, Liz and Michael Conner, Bob and Kathy Franklin, Bob and Joann Piquette, Dave Larson, Debbie Kaufman, Teri Hickel, Mark Miloscia, Eric Stavney, L.T. Colman, Jeff Stock, Michele Mayberry, Laureen and Bob Walker, Rick Hoffman, Steve Blaine, Joanna Webster, Curt and Nancy Wittman, Skip Priest, Jack Stanford.