The application period for potential Sequim city manager candidates closes on Friday, July 2.

Sequim city councilor Keith Larkin, who was elected by a majority of councilors as their liaison to consulting firm Colin Baenziger & Associates, said at the June 28 Sequim City Council meeting that if Baenziger “finds it necessary, he may extend it.”

Baenziger anticipates most applications coming in this week, Larkin said.

“It’s common for applicants to wait for the last week to apply,” Larkin noted.

At the June 14 council meeting, Larkin said he anticipates candidates being vetted by Aug. 12 so that councilors could receive packages of information on eight to 10 candidates.

This would lead to an approximate 20-minute meeting where they’d share their rankings on Aug. 26 to come away with a top three or four, he said.

Tentatively, those top candidates would come to Sequim for in person interviews on Sept. 9-10, with city councilors and staff along with a community meet-and-greet and tour, Larkin said.

A reception may occur on Sept. 8, too.

Travel and expenses will be paid for the candidates by the city, Larkin said.

He said on June 14 the city tried to set the meeting dates out far enough to accommodate as many city councilors as possible in the process. However, Deputy Mayor Tom Ferrell and councilor Brandon Janisse said they could not make the Aug. 26 meeting due to being out of the country and being at work.

Ferrell said he’d attempt to call in from Ukraine for the Sept. 9-10 meetings.

Supermajority

At Monday’s city council meeting, Ferrell unsuccessfully asked for a motion to require a two-thirds majority, rather than simple majority, for hiring and/or firing a city manager.

Councilors voted 4-3 down the motion, with Mayor William Armacost and councilors Sarah Kincaid, Larkin and Mike Pence opposed.

Ferrell said the action could show unity to the community and future city councilors.

“The city manager is a crucial function … and going forward that would be healthy if a significant majority, more than a simple majority would agree with that,” he said.

“It creates a lot of trust with the community and this council and councils coming forward.”

Larkin said he believes they’ll have excellent candidates and everyone will have a “good look” of everyone coming through the process and that they’ll all be in sync with the top candidate without additional voting provisions.

“I think there are many ways we’re always together in our decision process,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to matter if five people over four if it’s going to change my mind. It’s going to be our discussion and we really weigh out the candidates and who is going to be the best candidate.

“As a council, I think we can do that without additional requirements placed on us.”

City attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said she could not find any state restrictions preventing the city council from enacting a supermajority vote like this.

Pence said he feels the proposal is “so out of sync with the way the rest of country runs. I was shocked it was the agenda.”

Armacost said he contacted Robin Aronson, risk services manager for the Washington Cities Insurance Authority, last week, who advised him that voting for a supermajority now would be ill-timed with five council seats up for election in November.

“She felt it would be suicide from a transparency move to make that move at this time,” he said.

Armacost said if councilors still felt strongly about revisiting a two-thirds vote, Aronson recommended it be discussed in January after the election.

“Change is very possible and the key success behind any change is the timing of it,” he said.

Ferrell said he’d always prefer a unanimous decision on actions, but this would allow as close to possible one on a critical decision.

The city manager search follows a majority of the city council’s vote to call for former city manager Charlie Bush’s resignation in January over “philosophical differences,” according to a city press release.

Baenziger and his team helped bring in Bush in 2015 for consideration and eventual hiring.

Assistant city manager Charisse Deschenes is as interim city manager through August.

Ann Bennett, executive director of the Washington Cities Insurance Authority, wrote via email Tuesday that “WCIA offers risk management services to our members regarding reducing liability risks in their communities.”

“WCIA does not have a position regarding how the Sequim City Council handles the hiring of a City Manager nor did we state one,” she wrote.