When Edmonds hosted a reception in late September with two finalists for its economic development director position, city officials and business leaders had good reason to hope that the job — which has been vacant for well over a year — was about to be filled.
Those hopes were dashed last week, when Mayor Gary Haakenson decided to “temporarily not fill the position,” he wrote in a press release.
The lack of an economic development director, even for a few more months, will hurt the city, said Councilmember Michael Plunkett.
The city needs immediate help in developing many of its important neighborhood development plans – downtown, at Highway 99, for the Arts Corridor, he said.
“This just puts us farther behind the curve,” Plunkett said.
The city’s Web site says whoever fills the position acts as the primary liaison between private sector companies and city staff. The director is supposed to help new companies relocate to Edmonds, and existing companies to expand and flourish.
Filling the job is still a priority, Haakenson said Tuesday night. If the position is still vacant in a month, the mayor will appoint somebody temporarily, he said.
“This is a position we want to fill. No question,” he said. “I will fill that job.”
It is possible that a possible staff restructuring could see the economic development job fall to a current city employee, Haakenson said.
The salary range for the position is between $82,000 and $123,000 a year.
But the position is still vacant, a fact which bothers members of the selection committee which chose the finalists.
“I am very disappointed,” said Councilmember Ron Wambolt, who sat on the selection committee. “We badly need an economic development director. We have got so many projects on the way, and we just do not have the staff to handle it.”
Haakenson’s top pick as economic development director was hired earlier this month as Mukilteo’s new city administrator, Haakenson said. Joe Hannan had been the economic development administrator for the city of Lakewood since 2002.
Haakenson said the other finalist was not a good fit with city staff, or with the citizens.
That other finalist, Jim Pearman, sits on Mercer Island’s City Council, and has long worked in destination marketing.
Pearman should have been hired, said Councilmember Plunkett, who also sat on the selection committee.
“We should have hired the guy,” Plunkett said. “He had the qualifications, the experience and the enthusiasm for the job.”
Other council members suggested Pearman’s experience as a council member would help him relate to the council.
That experience would be especially valuable given the major changes likely coming before the council in 2008, like waterfront redevelopment, said Councilmember Dave Orvis.
Before the September reception, Haakenson acknowledged that the business community had been patient, that the neighbor centers needed attention, and that the position needed to be filled.
For now, the slack is being filled by the mayor himself, and a few city directors, Haakenson said.
Still, finding a permanent replacement has been difficult.
For instance, September’s reception was supposed to feature three finalists, but one of those finalists backed out at the last minute, when her current employer gave her a pay raise.
Months ago, the city interviewed a number of candidates, but concluded that there weren’t enough qualified candidates to justify hiring any of them, Haakenson said.
While hiring an economic development director is important, it is more important the city hire the right director, business leaders agreed.
“The right candidate will be the one that the mayor and the City Council are comfortable with carrying the city’s message forward,” said Jim Hills, who is president of the Chamber of Commerce, and the publisher of the Enterprise.
That’s a message that others on the City Council carried forward.
Council president Peggy Pritchard Olson said she is excited for the day when the position is finally filled.
But she didn’t want to hire the wrong candidate, she said.
“With all of the projects we have, we need an economic development director. We need the help,” Olson said, who said finding the right candidate was the city’s top job. “I am most enthusiastic about getting someone in here.”
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