Mill Creek’s new city manager, Steve Nolen, has accomplished a long-standing personal goal. While working in various government job capacities for King County, he met many city managers, gained an appreciation for what cities do and decided his goal was to work for a small to mid-size progressive city. So when former city manager, Bob Stowe, announced his resignation, Nolen realized he had his opportunity.
“I like what has been happening (in Mill Creek) and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people who are already here so I threw my hat into the ring,” he said. “I was just thrilled when they offered me the job because it’s really what I’ve wanted to do for a number of years now.”
Nolen officially began work on Tuesday, July 5, by having a day of transition with the interim city manager, Mike Caldwell. He was introduced to staff and briefed on various issues such as the city council meeting agenda for that night.
“I’m basically just trying to learn as fast as I can what the issues are here that we’re going to need to deal with over the next few months,” he said, mentioning the possible annexation of 553-acres, the new Town Center, construction on Dumas Road and the recently purchased Huntron Building located north of City Hall.
While Nolen’s first week was packed with learning about the city and meeting as many people as he could, he’s not feeling overwhelmed. He is impressed with the city staff and plans to organize a workshop to address future goals and access the progression of others. He’s also planning to meet with the city council sometime in the fall for a possible retreat.
“We have a great staff,” Nolen said. “The council works well together…everybody doesn’t always agree but they’re able to talk, work things out, make decisions and implement those decisions pretty effectively here.”
Nolen said he began his job with an assumption that staff and council members believe in what they’re doing and want to do their jobs well. He admits that he has plenty of files to read, more people to meet and a lot to learn in his new position but he is more than willing to stay late or work weekends in order to catch up.
“I have a lot to learn about the city but I know that the staff and council are going to help me overcome any little missteps that I may make in the beginning,” he said.
Nolen said he tries to learn from everyone he works with and has had the chance to learn from and work with both Stowe and Caldwell. Although he doesn’t think he’s exactly like either one of his predecessors, he has a large amount of respect for the work accomplished by each in Mill Creek.
“All you have to do is look around to see that they’ve done their jobs well. It’s a beautiful, well-planned city and I’m really excited about being here,” he said.
City clerk Kelly Hennessey has noticed Nolen’s enthusiasm for his new position.
“He’s going to be a good fit,” she said. “He has a great personality and a good sense of humor.”
Although Pam Olson, recreation supervisor, has not yet had an opportunity to sit down and speak with Nolen, she gets the impression that he’ll bring a lot of good to the city and be well received by the community.
“He just seems like a very straight-shooter and a great listener. I think he’s going to be very open and honest,” she said.
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