STANWOOD — The city’s top administrator announced last week that she is leaving to take a position in Monroe.
Deborah Knight has worked as city administrator in Stanwood for five years. Before that, she did the same job in Sultan for six years. She also has worked for the city of Woodinville.
She plans to leave Stanwood Aug. 11 and start as city administrator in Monroe on Aug. 14. Monroe is nearly three times the size of Stanwood in population, and has nearly four times the staff and triple the budget. Knight, 54, is replacing Gene Brazel, former Monroe administrator who left to become city administrator in Lake Stevens in January.
The Monroe City Council confirmed Knight’s position Tuesday. The city and Knight agreed to a salary of $144,000 a year, according to the employment contract, with a monthly car allowance of $250. In January of each year, the mayor plans to do a performance review, and has the ability to fire Knight.
Two candidates for the Monroe job were interviewed in April but “neither … was found satisfactory,” according to a city staff report. On June 8, Knight and one other candidate were interviewed. The mayor’s reasons for selecting Knight include her success in landing grant money in Sultan and Stanwood and her experience building plans for economic development, among them the Discover Port Susan campaign and the Sky Valley Tourism Partnership.
Knight sees similarities between Stanwood, Sultan and Monroe. All have major highways where safety and traffic improvements are needed, and all have turned their attention toward enhancing the economy through tourism and downtown redevelopment.
Monroe has some unique challenges and opportunities, though, she said. The city is looking to sell land for commercial development, and there is significantly more home-building and population growth happening in Monroe than there has been in Stanwood or Sultan.
“That rapid growth is something new for me in my career,” Knight said.
In Stanwood, Knight said she is proud of the work done over the past few years to add park spaces and river access, something people were demanding when she started in 2012. She’s been there for several major development projects, including a new shopping center with a grocery and pet store and the construction of the Stanwood Camano YMCA. She hopes to see work continue on tourism and downtown business promotion, along with final decisions about emergency services and relocating City Hall.
Stanwood Mayor Leonard Kelley said Thursday that he wasn’t yet ready to announce interim city leadership plans, but he doesn’t intend to hire a permanent administrator until the start of 2018.
“We’re losing someone who took on some challenges that were rather large-scale, and has accomplished them,” he said. “I’m losing a good part of my team, but we’re going to be OK. We still have great employees.”
Knight said the decision to leave Stanwood was difficult, but she aims to stay involved through local organizations. She is excited for new challenges in Monroe and expects she’ll have an ambitious to-do list from city leaders.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
