Once again, the Kirkland City Council reneged on the promise to involve the citizens of Kirkland in the city manager selection process.
What salary and benefits did the council offer? They certainly should not have been greater than the previous city manager who was being overpaid for his services. Dave Ramsay was recruited by the same agency, which leads me to believe we will end up with another overpaid city manager, an unnecessary expense that could be avoided if city management is within his or her capability. It’s not that difficult, given all the staff support that has grown exponentially, and the use of many consultants in determining policy and procedures. It also allows whoever becomes city manager to avoid responsibility and dodge the bullet should he or she make a bad management decision.
Why are Mr. Kurt Triplett, former interim King County Executive and chief of staff and Dave Zabell applying for the job? With all Mr. Triplett’s experience at the county level, why would he want to leave? And, how much influence did he have in creating the management and budgetary mess at the county? We don’t want Kirkland to end up the same way.
There was a reason Triplett was hired at the county. His advice to his superiors resulted in the citizens of the county being short changed. We ended up paying more for less; exactly what we’re getting now from our own council members.
I would hope Mr. Triplett’s ill-advised staff guidance will be identified before being considered for the position of city manager.
Mr. Dave Zabell is an assistant manager and would probably like a promotion especially in a city that has the resources to pay for non-essential services. However, it means his positions on how to fund essential services should be analyzed first. We don’t need any more tax and spend advice.
I would hope that the candidates for city manager and the citizens of Kirkland get to fill out the service matrix before the city manager is chosen. The citizens should be involved as promised. It would be nice if the council kept its promises. Are you listening council?
Robert L. Style is a long-time Kirkland resident.
