A chart depicting White Salmon’s new administrative structure, which has yet to be implemented. Unlike the previous structure, where department heads (public works director, clerk, etc.) reported to a city administrator, department heads would report directly to the mayor and assume greater responsibility.
A chart depicting White Salmon’s new administrative structure, which has yet to be implemented. Unlike the previous structure, where department heads (public works director, clerk, etc.) reported to a city administrator, department heads would report directly to the mayor and assume greater responsibility.
WHITE SALMON — Two weeks ago, White Salmon’s City Council welcomed new faces, considered code changes for unit lot subdivisions and heard several reports from Jennifer Neil, director of finance and operations, on the city’s monetary outlook and a new executive structure.
As the May 21 meeting began, City Attorney Shawn MacPherson swore Councilor Morella Mora into her position, vacated by former Councilor Jim Ransier for the remainder of the year. Mayor Marla Keethler then introduced Rowan Fairfield, White Salmon’s new city planner.
With most heads of departments now filled, city administration is planning to restructure staff organization under the “strong mayor” governance system that has been in place since White Salmon’s founding. Keethler’s predecessor, Mayor Dave Poucher, had modified the structure during his term to include a city administrator and help manage the increasing complexity of city operations.
“I’m wanting to go in a direction that I think will deliver the result that I envision, that I know staff envisions, and I think that this allows the departments to run more effectively,” said Keethler, noting the change was informed by conversations with staff and would streamline decision-making. “This will be one that is a much more positive environment for the team that serves the city.”
As Neil explained, rather than having each department head (public works, police, fire, planning, finance and operations, and clerk) report to a city administrator who then reports to Keethler, the strong mayor structure would operate without a city administrator. Neil emphasized the structure would save money; improve internal communication and accountability by removing an additional, unelected layer; and that 81% of municipalities across Washington utilize it.
During a Personnel and Finance Committee meeting in February, Keethler said the city administrator structure had hindered city operations as “evidenced by things not getting effectively to council or managed properly.” Recent examples include the back and forth between city administration and council on White Salmon’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan and a debate over parking regulations.
“I know that I’ve been disappointed in certain areas, and felt like it created some disagreement on council itself, when questions that we had posed were not answered and created more drama than was necessary,” said Councilor Patty Fink. “There’s an opportunity for [council] to help facilitate this transition and verify our governance procedures — how we want to communicate.”
Fink suggested that council hold a workshop to outline their day-to-day relationship with city administration, and all other councilors in attendance voiced support for the new structure, which has yet to be formally adopted. Apart from reorganization, Neil touched on her operational analysis of the city, financial reports and an upcoming budget amendment.
Neil identified several small actions, like cutting surplus phone lines, that have made the city more cost-efficient and announced the city is on track after the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, with total city revenue and expenditures at 24% and 12%, respectively, of this year’s budget. As for the budget amendment, it largely involves realignment among pre-existing expenditures and updating the revenue side based on more current projections.
“The moment you adopt a budget, it immediately changes,” said Neil. “Budget amendments are just that — being able to roll with those changes. I prefer to do less budget amendments than more, but this isn’t my budget yet and we’ve found some areas that definitely need improvement.”
To read Neil’s suite of reports, visit www.whitesalmon.gov and download council’s agenda packet for the May 21 meeting. Council will hold a public hearing for the budget amendment during a future meeting.
Council also heard from Fairfield about a state law that requires all cities in Washington to develop guidelines for unit lot subdivisions, or the process of splitting up a residential-zoned parent lot into two or more unit lots. Since only the parent lot has to comply with certain residential zoning regulations, the intent is to create more flexibility for middle housing, like duplexes and townhouses.
While councilors saw the ordinance’s potential benefits, they found its purpose statement convoluted, wanted to see more accessible language throughout and needed more information about the implications of including residential large lot zones. White Salmon also doesn’t permit shared utilities, which would inevitably hinder unit lot subdivisions, so with Councilor Jason Hartmann absent, they remanded the ordinance back to the planning commission in a 4-0 vote.
Lastly, council unanimously approved a 10-year franchise agreement with utility NW Natural. Previously, there were concerns that Section 18 of the agreement gave NW Natural undue authority to supersede local code, but other protections are in place, according to MacPherson.
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