Fuller resigns as Hood River City Manager

“I have made the difficult decision to resign my position as city manager for personal reasons. This was entirely my decision and one that I did not make lightly,” Fuller said. “My last day of work will be July 2, 2021, providing time to complete the budget process, get through the worst of the COVID-19 health crisis and finish several key projects. I am committed to a smooth transition and will do whatever I can to support the city council and the organization in this regard, including being available to assist with projects, if needed.”

Fuller was hired in July 2018. She had worked for 13 years for the city of Jackson, Wyo., and moved back to the Northwest in 2011, serving as assistant city manager for the City of Gresham before being hired in Hood River.

Mayor Kate McBride stated that, “I am sad to lose Rachael as our city manager but respect her decision to move on for personal reasons. We are grateful for her service to the community, especially during the challenges of the past year. She will be greatly missed.”

In her resignation letter, Fuller thanked the mayor and city council for their leadership and for the opportunity to serve as the city manager. She stated that she would do everything she could to assist with a smooth transition. In a separate email to staff, she expressed her gratitude for the city employees, especially during this past challenging year.

According to McBride, the council will decide how to fill the position and will likely request proposals from executive recruiting firms to assist with the search for a permanent city manager. She expects the process to begin soon.

“We’re in good shape, and we have a good plan. All our department heads are in charge of the various projects and not having Rachael will have a big impact on that but we have a very capable staff and that will certainly help us in the transition.”

Some of the key projects Fuller and the city have in play include addressing affordable housing, including early-stage planning for the city housing development on the newly-purchased Rand Road property, the Westside Plan, proposed city public safety building, Heights Urban Renewal project, redesign and upgrade of the Rand-Cascade intersection, and an extensive stormwater system upgrade and replacement.

Question of equity

In recent months, Fuller has arranged for council to hear detailed reports from community partners in the Gorge, and in a recent address to Hood River Rotary, she noted that council is embarking on creating a plan for improving equity and inclusion for all residents.

“We’re looking at, how can the city partner with the community to help achieve that vision. We look forward to diving into the work in the next year,” Fuller said.

Presenting groups have included Mid-Columbia Housing Authority, Big River Land Trust, SafeSpace Child Advocacy Center, Hood River Homeless Outreach, and Mid-Columbia Community Action Council.

Fuller told Rotary that “2020 revealed weaknesses in our system and society; a health crisis turned into an economic and social justice crisis, and we have seen our social fabric and contract tested. I’ve been reading a lot this year to see the context of where we are this at this time.”

She quoted the book “Upswing,” by Robert Putnam, who wrote that current times resemble the U.S. "Gilded Age" of the late 1800s, with a highly polarized, individualized and fragmented society that was gradually reformed “and over many decades, coalesced to make an America objectively and, on the whole, more egalitarian; Rotary was one of the things that was launched during these decades.”

In the 1960s, Fuller said of Putnam’s writing, the U.S. saw a reversal of a more egalitarian society. However, Fuller said Putnam “paints a hopeful picture of how we can come together again, and has some cautionary advice: Any solutions must respect American values of liberty and self-determination, and that we can never compromise on inclusion and egalitarianism.”

She quoted Putnam: “'In engineering a new American upswing, we must set our sights higher than our predecessors did and stay fiercely to an American Way that is sustainable because it is inclusive.'

“These are the questions being posed by council in policy work,” Fuller said. “How can we come together as a community to create a more equitable and inclusive system for all?

"It is a question not just to the council but to the community as a whole.”