SNOHOMISH – While people in Snohomish packed a hearing room April 17 to debate a controversial airport growth plan, city manager Larry Bauman was in another community trying to get a new job.
Bauman was in Lake Forest Park in King County, where he was being interviewed as one of the four finalists for the new city administrator job.
Bauman lives in Shoreline, near Lake Forest Park, population 12,500. He knows Lake Forest Park officials through his experience as Shoreline’s assistant city manager, a position he had held before coming to Snohomish, a city of about 8,700 people, in May 2002.
“It was an attractive idea because of my familiarity with Lake Forest Park,” said Bauman, whose annual pay is $105,576 at Snohomish.
Lake Forest Park is down to a single finalist for the job, which has a proposed annual salary between $95,000 and $125,000.
Bauman, 55, said he is not the finalist. He hasn’t applied for other jobs, he added.
If Bauman were to leave, it would be the third high-profile departure from the city in the past several months.
Gordon Wiborg, the former police chief, quit in December after sending messages on a city-issued Blackberry to his subordinate, professing romantic interest in the man. Wiborg resigned five days later, citing distraction from a lawsuit related to his former job in Florida. His lawyer has since said the resignation also was related to temporary health problems Wiborg was suffering.
In February, Brad Nelson, who oversaw the city’s finances, resigned to work for the Silver Lake Water District in Mill Creek, taking a pay cut of about $9,000. Nelson had worked for Snohomish for about 12 years.
“There has been a lot of dissatisfaction about things happening in Snohomish, mainly all the personnel changes,” City Councilman Larry Countryman said.
The city has yet to hire permanent replacements for the two positions.
Bauman said Monday that his interest in the Lake Forest Park position has nothing to do with the situation in Snohomish.
Bauman is in charge of the city’s day-to-day operations in Snohomish, including personnel matters. The City Council makes legislative decisions.
“We don’t tell (Bauman) what to do. We try to stay informed,” City Councilman Doug Thorndike said.
Thorndike said people in town have shared concern about the turnover at City Hall.
Mayor Randy Hamlin said he wants to know what has caused the departures.
“I don’t have any answers or conclusions at this point,” he said.
The City Council likely will conduct a performance review for Bauman this month, city officials said.
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