BOTHELL — The Bothell City Council voted Tuesday to dismiss City Manager Bob Stowe, leaving some council members confused and others saying they are hopeful the decision will chart a new course for the city.
Mayor Andy Rheaume said hiring and firing of city managers is one of the only personnel decisions council members can make. He said the council chose to dismiss Stowe to change leadership and direction for the city.
“I think the process going forward definitely should have a clean slate,” he said. “It’s more important to talk about it moving forward than looking back.”
Stowe was on vacation Tuesday. Rheaume said he notified the city manager that morning that he could be terminated during that evening’s Bothell City Council meeting. He has been paid $188,000 a year.
The mayor also said council members generally are not aware in advance of executive sessions and the issues to be discussed.
Council member Tris Samberg said she was aware of the possible action before the meeting. Council members Joshua Freed, Del Spivey and Tom Agnew said they were not.
No public notice was given prior to the decision, which passed 5-2 after the council met in executive session.
Rheaume said that was because firing a city manager is a personnel decision, and he did not feel it was appropriate to publicly air specific grievances.
“Making it a public spectacle is not appropriate for dealing with personnel issues,” he said. “It’s not a good thing to say a bunch of negative comments about the city manager.”
But Freed, who voted with Spivey against the motion to terminate Stowe, said the council should have taken public comment on the decision.
Freed also took exception to the circumstances and timing of the vote with Stowe being absent.
“I think somebody that has worked for the city for 12 years should have had the proper respect to go through the processes with the council,” he said.
Also of concern to Freed was what kind of legal advice Rheaume obtained prior to the vote to terminate Stowe.
Rheaume said the city attorney had reviewed Stowe’s contract 24 hours before the meeting. The mayor said he also sought additional legal counsel, but he declined to provide details.
City spokeswoman Barbara Ramey said the city’s legal department had not reviewed the resolution to terminate the city manager before the meeting.
Stowe had served as Bothell’s city manager since 2004.
“I think it was decided that the city needed a change in direction, that the city manager had done an excellent job up until that point in time,” Agnew said.
But neither Rheaume nor Agnew could specify what changes they were seeking.
“The mayor feels like it’s time to have a change of direction, but doesn’t inform us what the change of direction is, doesn’t inform the public what the change of direction is,” Spivey said. “It just comes across as not open, transparent, fair, equitable or anything else.”
Rheaume said there were council discussions in the past about replacing the city manager.
Stowe often had sided with the previous pro-development council that had been headed by Freed. With November’s vote, a more conservation-minded council was voted in, creating a new majority which has regularly voted as a bloc, including at Tuesday’s meeting. Differences aside, Rheaume said Stowe had done well for the city.
“I wish Bob Stowe the best, and I hope that his future endeavors are good,” he said. “It’s not the decision by the council to do what we did because of anger or anything else, it’s because we felt like it was time for a change.”
Stowe’s contract with the city says he can be terminated by the council without cause. He will remain on paid leave for 30 days, after which he can appeal the decision. He will be paid 12 months’ salary as severance pay, or until he finds another job.
While the city searches for a replacement, Assistant City Manager Peter Troedsson will assume Stowe’s responsibilities.
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