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closeMcLean’s future uncertain after council debates performance
Puyallup City Council calls two special meetings to evaluate city manager
Neil Pierson/of The Herald
Gary McLean’s two-year tenure as Puyallup’s city manager has been marked at times by sharp criticism, even among the city council members who employ him.
The council hastily arranged a special meeting last week to evaluate McLean, announcing the April 1 meeting a day earlier. Nearly two-and-a-half hours behind closed doors didn’t resolve McLean’s long-term fate, with the council saying it would take no action for the time being.
The announcement of the April 1 meeting didn’t mention McLean by name but he is the only public employee the council is allowed to evaluate.
The April 1 meeting was a largely secretive one, with the council taking no public comment before or after the executive session. The council left the dais immediately after announcing its decision. Mayor Kathy Turner and Councilmembers John Knutsen and Rick Hansen declined to comment. McLean didn’t respond to a request.
Council rules say officials “shall keep confidential all written materials and verbal information provided to them during executive sessions.” The rules also allow the mayor or any four members of the council to arrange a meeting with 24 hours’ notice. It’s unknown who called last week’s meeting.
Any written evaluation of the city manager is a public record.
The council chambers were nearly full despite the meeting’s short notice. Several residents who have voiced disapproval of McLean attended, as did numerous business owners who held up signs reading, “Keep our city manager.”
The city manager’s supporters have cited Puyallup’s relatively stable budget during the national recession as a reason for keeping him. The city hasn’t resorted to layoffs or cutting salaries and benefits for its 300 employees, unlike many cities throughout the state.
His detractors, however, point to the city’s shrinking reserve fund, which is currently hovering between 6 and 7 percent of total expenses. The council has a stated goal of 12 percent. Puyallup also had a $2 million budget shortfall at the start of the year and was looking to slash library services and street maintenance projects as solutions.
Knutsen sued McLean and City Attorney Cheryl Carlson last year, saying he wasn’t receiving records necessary for doing his job. Knutsen lost in court and later dropped the lawsuit, saying he couldn’t afford a prolonged battle.
Additionally, the city has been embroiled in a water rights lawsuit with property owner Mike Stanzel, losing a pair of court decisions, and McLean was criticized by the county’s boundary review board for using expired petitions in the city’s attempt to annex the North Puyallup neighborhood.
The city has received millions in federal and state grant dollars during McLean’s tenure, including funds for economic development projects, a bus rapid transit study, stormwater technology and the Shaw Road extension.
The council narrowly struck down a motion to fire him last year. Knutsen, Hansen and the late George Dill supported that motion.
McLean was hired as city manager in January 2008 by a 4-3 vote. A former attorney in Seattle and Des Moines, McLean was Puyallup’s city attorney for six years and became its interim manager following Jim Bacon’s resignation late in 2007. The council didn’t conduct an outside search for candidates before hiring McLean.
The council is allowed to terminate McLean’s contract without cause but would have to pay him six months of salary, roughly $75,000. Officials would also have to give him 60 days’ notice if he were fired without having committed a legal breach of duty.
Business community support
Prior to the meeting, local business owners and civic leaders exchanged a flurry of e-mails on the topic. Mike Cina, a local architect and land developer, attended the meeting and encouraged others to do the same. Cina supports McLean, citing the recruitment of several large businesses and Puyallup’s relatively good budget standing compared to other cities.
“While every other city in Pierce County is making deep cuts in staff, services and operations, Puyallup has not had to do so,” Cina wrote April 1. “We are one of the most financially stable governments in the state. “
He also questioned the abilities of Councilmembers Kent Boyle and Nicole Martineau, who both took office this year, to form educated opinions about McLean.
“The two new city council members need to hear from the silent majority of Puyallup,” Cina said. “There is no way that they could form an objective opinion on Gary in such a short time.”
Cina is also the vice chair of Valley Arts United, which has negotiated a rent-free contract with the city to construct an art gallery inside the vacant first floor at city hall. The council approved the plan 6-1 in February but asked last month to review the contract again before it’s signed. Some council members voiced concern about three city officials serving in volunteer capacities with the arts group.
Arla Cuddie, owner of the downtown Newell Hunt Furniture store, also supports McLean and said his staff has created a “vision of a unique city to live and grow in.” She also appreciates McLean’s ability to obtain outside money for city projects, including the Local Infrastructure Financing Tool grant in 2008.
“My dealings with Gary have been very positive,” Cuddie said after the meeting. “With the leadership of the city manager, I see a future with my investment. If I don’t have that I would be more concerned about continuing to invest.
“It appears to be a witch hunt,” she added. “Nobody in the representation of people who are concerned with Gary’s performance has ever approached any of the businesses that you saw represented tonight.”