EDMONDS — Mayor Gary Haakenson announced his resignation to a stunned City Council June 1.
The three-term Edmonds mayor has accepted County Executive Aaron Reardon’s offer to fill the spot as Deputy County Executive with Snohomish County.
Haakenson’s last day in city hall will be July 2. He will start with the county July 6.
“I’ve always been asked what I’m going to do when I’m done being mayor, and my answer has always been, something will come along,” Haakenson told the council. “And this time, it came along maybe not at the best time, but opportunities come when they come.”
Through June, Haakenson will be focusing on the Edmonds budget with the council, he told The Enterprise.
“To get them to a place where they can get working on it and the levy,” he said. “I will also be putting in some time at the county until I report the first week of July.”
He also announced his resignation June 2 at an all-city employee meeting. One of the 140 in attendance said, “You’re the best mayor I’ve ever worked for.” A standing ovation followed.
“For now I simply want to thank you for your work over the past 15 years of my association with the city,” he said. “Collectively you all are the life blood of this city and we would never succeed without you. You are an undervalued asset to the citizens of Edmonds and without you my job as mayor would have been impossible.”
Haakenson, 62, has served as Edmonds mayor for 11 years. The 25-year resident became mayor in January 2000 and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004 and a third term beginning in 2008. Prior to that, he served as a councilman from 1996 through 1999.
In addition to his position as mayor, he serves as chair of the SNOCOM board and the Snohomish Emergency Radio System board. He is on the executive board as the mayor-at-large for Snohomish County Cities.
Haakenson spent most of his career in the retail arena. He managed several departments for JC Penney, and later co-founded Everett-based Zumiez, a national retail clothing chain that currently has 389 stores.
He is a Northwest native, having grown up in the Seattle area. He attended Blanchet High School and Seattle University, where he received a degree in business administration. He is married to Dolly, and they have two married sons and four grandchildren.
“My goal when I became mayor was to have an open door policy to everyone, employees and citizens alike,” Haakenson told The Enterprise. “I wanted to communicate with citizens with articles, town meetings, neighborhood meetings and I wanted citizens to feel comfortable stopping to talk to me anytime. I wanted the mayor to be accessible to everyone. I believe I have accomplished those goals.”
Reardon made the job offer May 28. “Gary has been successful in both business and government because he knows the importance of teamwork and he focuses on the needs of the customer,” Reardon said in a prepared statement.
Under Reardon, Haakenson will help oversee Executive Office departments, including Parks &Recreation, Human Services, Public Works and Planning &Development Services. He also will work directly with the Snohomish County Council and other individually elected officials.
Haakenson will replace Mark Soine, who was deputy executive for five years, and will earn about $147,000 annually. Soine previously had worked as a city attorney for Everett with limited experience managing people. His time on the job was marked by frequent confrontation with others in county government.
Soine’s last official day on the job is June 3. He announced his resignation in April.
Last February, Soine took the blame after an independent review found shoddy record-keeping at the county’s equal employment opportunity office. The county employee he supervised resigned.
Later, the Department of Information Services, which Soine had supervised until early this year, became the focus of a sharply critical audit that found what the auditors described as an unusual lack of communication between the department’s managers and their customers in county government offices.
Soine also played a key role in how the county handled its investigation of misconduct by former planning director Craig Ladiser. Ladiser was fired last summer after allegations that he got drunk at a building industry golf tournament and pressed his bare genitals against a woman who works as a lobbyist.
Newly released county records feature allegations that the woman was pressured by building industry officials not to formally complain about what happened. Ladiser is awaiting trial, charged with indecent exposure and fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation.
Herald reporter Scott North contributed to this story.
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