City Manager Picked Among 2 Finalists For Job In Washington State

EVANSTON, IL — City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz has been selected as one of two finalists for a local government position in Washington. It was at least the third Pacific Northwest job opportunity since May 2017 where Bobkiewicz has made the shortlist of candidates.

Bobkiewicz and Marty Wine, city manager of Tigard, Oregon, were the two final candidates named Tuesday for the position of city administrator of Issaquah, a city of more than 37,000 located in King County about 17 miles east of Seattle. Its departing City Administrator Emily Moon announced in March she will leave the job in August.

Issaquah has a 2019 budget of about $145 million, according to a job announcement for the city administrator position. With about 74,000 people, Evanston's population is about twice that of the Washington town, and its budget of $320 million is more than twice as large.

As Bobkiewicz approaches the 10th anniversary of his hiring in Evanston, he has said he would consider taking a job in Washington or Oregon for family reasons. His wife Patrice Frey is a Washington native, and her parents still live in the area, Bobkiewicz has said, explaining his interest in relocating to the Pacific Northwest.

Wine, his fellow finalist, has been city manager since December 2011 of Tigard, a town in the Portland metropolitan area with a population of about 51,000 people and a $272 million budget.

Bobkiewicz spent his youth in Glenview and Deerfield before moving to the southern California town of Camarillo for high school. After earning a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, he worked in municipal governments in California, including Long Beach, Novato and Santa Paula before he was hired by the Evanston City Council in August 2009.

In May 2017, he was picked as one of three finalists to become city manager of Tacoma, Washington, a city of more than 200,000 residents about 32 miles southwest of Seattle. The Tacoma City Council did not make a hire after the first round of interviews with all three candidates, instead deciding to add its acting city manager to the pool.

Bobkiewicz withdrew his name from consideration at that point, telling Evanston aldermen he did not plan to apply to any other city manager positions the "near future."

The city manager had support from a majority of aldermen at his last performance review in October 2018, although no vote was taken. Hiring or firing a city manager — the chief executive of the municipal corporation and the only hire that aldermen make themselves — requires a majority vote of the Evanston City Council.

In December 2018, Bobkiewicz was picked as one of five finalists for the position of county administrator in Clackamas County, the third-largest in Oregon. County commissioners decided to hire a lifelong county resident who had previously served as a spokesperson and director of public and government affairs in the county government.

In February, 6th Ward Ald. Tom Suffredin sent a newsletter to constituents encouraging Evanston's elected officials to engage in a public discussion about a succession plan for Bobkiewicz’s departure.

Suffredin said the city "should not wait with bated breath for a decision by five Commissioners in Clackamas County, Oregon or allow our City's course to be determined by the vagaries of the Pacific Northwest employment market."

In response, Mayor Steve Hagerty accused Suffredin of "trying to force [Bobkiewicz] to quit" and 8th Ward Ald. Ann Rainey, the most senior member of the City Council, warned of the hemorrhaging of city staff as a result of a "dreadful environment that is currently percolating."

According to Evanston's budgeted employee compensation, Bobkiewicz will earn a package of nearly $256,000 this year. He also received a $200,000 interest-free loan from the city linked to his downtown Evanston condominium, which he will be required to pay back upon the sale of the property or his leaving the job in Evanston.

The salary range for the Issaquah city administrator position is between $158,000 and $202,000, according to the application announcement.

Bobkiewicz and Wine will be in Issaquah Thursday evening to meet with residents, according to a statement from city officials.

Earlier:

• Alderman Wants Public Discussion Of Future Of City Manager Job
• Evanston City Manager Named As Finalist For Job In Oregon