Nobody knows the city of Goldendale quite like Larry Bellamy. He was hired as clerk-treasurer back on Aug. 2, 1995, and in January became Goldendale’s first city administrator. Now he’s retiring on July 29, just a few days short of 27 years on the job.
In fact, he’s been in that position so long that most people don’t recall that he also worked for the city from 1980-1985 as a deputy clerk-treasurer.
Bellamy’s journey started in 1957 when he was born at Klickitat Valley Health. His family lived at Blockhouse until he was 3, when they moved to Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City. Between his sophomore and junior years of high school, the family moved back to the Goldendale area, and he graduated from Goldendale High School.
“That was in 1975,” Bellamy said. “That’s what is on my alumnus sweatshirt. My wife’s says 1981, my son’s is 2000, and my daughter’s is 2009. I’m a proud Timberwolf.”
Following college at Oral Roberts University, Bellamy got a short-time job in San Diego in the fall of 1979, and returned to Goldendale in early 1980 to take the deputy clerk-treasurer position. “That period between 1980 and 1984 was when I met my wife and we started our family,” Bellamy said. “Not only was I deputy clerk-treasurer, I was also the city’s building inspector and planner.”
In 1985, he said, “We decided we needed to spread our wings a little bit more.” They considered the possibility of moving to San Diego or to Anchorage, Alaska, where his parents had moved. The parental pull won out, and the family stayed in Anchorage, even after his parents moved away.
Bellamy took a job there with the largest law firm in Alaska, first as an accountant, then as a paralegal. But after a decade with few family members able to make the long trip north, they figured it was time to come home.
“My wife said, ‘Well, if you had your dream job, what would it be if you were to move back to Goldendale?’ and I said I’d like to be the clerk-treasurer.”
Bellamy said his wife told him that he’d never get that position, because there was very little turnover at City Hall. His response was to subscribe to The Sentinel, to find out what was going on in Goldendale.
“The second issue we got had a big headline, ‘Goldendale clerk-treasurer resigns.’ So I interviewed over the phone with the city council and they hired me long distance.”
The family’s 2,592-mile trip home was a grueling one. With Bellamy and his wife trading driving with a family friend and driving straight through, their Mazda MPV van made it in just over 52 hours. He started with the city in August 1995.
Bellamy’s tenure as clerk-treasurer alone was short-lived. In January 1996, the new post of city administrator was added to his workload. This followed the city’s switch from a city manager and council government to a mayor and council.
“They originally had the mayor, Mark Sigfrinius, doing city administrator work,” Bellamy said, “but he realized that there was a need for someone else with city government experience.”
After two years of Bellamy wearing both hats, it became obvious that there was more in the combined functions than one person could handle, and the clerk-treasurer job was split off. Later Connie Byers took that job, and is also retiring.
Bellamy was there during the rough economic times when the two main sources of jobs for the town — logging and the aluminum plant — both shut down. As a result, businesses closed, and many people moved away. Empty houses meant lower property tax assessments, fewer stores meant lower sales tax revenues, and fewer people meant lower utility tax revenues
“We had to really mind our p’s and q’s financially,” Bellamy said, adding that the city has always lost sales tax receipts because Oregon, which does not have a sales tax, is an easy drive from Goldendale, and the greater number of stores in The Dalles offer a wider selection of merchandise than is available in Goldendale.
Coming out of the troubled financial times, Bellamy said one message came loud and clear from the public: A high priority on infrastructure improvements. Over the years, under Bellamy’s leadership, dozens of projects have been studied, funded by grants, and completed. Those include street improvement, water and sewer upgrades, new equipment at the treatment plant, and many others. One project that will carry on past his term is the installation of an aviation fuel system at the city’s municipal airport, with completion expected in 2023.
During Bellamy’s long run as city administrator, he’s served under four mayors: Mark Sigfrinius, Arleta Parton, Clint Baze, and current mayor Mike Canon.
“Each mayor has their own style,” Bellamy said. “And I think, one reason for my long-standing service is that I’ve been able to adapt to the leadership style that each one of them had.”
Bellamy has been held in such high esteem by those mayors that all four, and many former council members, have indicated they plan to attend a retirement get-together for Bellamy.
Bellamy is pleased to hand over the reins to a highly qualified successor in Pat Munyan, who will take over in August, after serving as assistant city administrator for several months.
He also emphasized that his job has been made easier by the quality of the city staff. “We really have a have a good core group of employees that really work hard and are selfless in the performance of their duties,” he said. “They have been a real pleasure to work with.”
Asked what he felt his own legacy would be, Bellamy said, “I’m pretty proud of the amount of outside funding we’ve been able to take advantage of for local projects, and I think we’re well- positioned to continue that in the future.”
A lot of people who’ve worked with Bellamy over the past 27 years would agree.
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