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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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McDonnell quits city manager’s job

Resigns to take job at SEH America

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Vancouver City Manager Pat McDonnell works in his office Monday, shortly after he announced his resignation, effective Nov.
Vancouver City Manager Pat McDonnell works in his office Monday, shortly after he announced his resignation, effective Nov. 1, to become senior director of site services at SEH America. Photo Gallery

Age: 58.

Family: Married for 27 years to Mary; two young-adult children, Shawn and Molly.

Work history: Vancouver city manager, Sept. 1, 2000, to present; deputy city manager, 1998-2000; Clark County administrator, 1991-1998; assistant Clark County administrator, 1987-1991.

Number of mayors: 2 (Royce Pollard and Tim Leavitt).

New job: Will resign his job as of Nov. 1 to work as senior director of site services for SEH America.

Quote: “I really firmly believe this is a noble profession, and it’s been an honor and privilege to be able to do this.”

After a decade in the position and 36 years in public service, Vancouver City Manager Pat McDonnell announced his resignation Monday afternoon to take a job with privately owned SEH America.

Age: 58.

Family: Married for 27 years to Mary; two young-adult children, Shawn and Molly.

Work history: Vancouver city manager, Sept. 1, 2000, to present; deputy city manager, 1998-2000; Clark County administrator, 1991-1998; assistant Clark County administrator, 1987-1991.

Number of mayors: 2 (Royce Pollard and Tim Leavitt).

New job: Will resign his job as of Nov. 1 to work as senior director of site services for SEH America.

Quote: "I really firmly believe this is a noble profession, and it's been an honor and privilege to be able to do this."

In a letter to the mayor and city council, McDonnell said that he’s accepted a job as SEH’s senior director of site services in Vancouver. His resignation is effective as of Nov. 1.

By waiting until November, McDonnell, 58, said he will be able to stay until the city council finalizes its next biennial budget, which contains steep cuts to staff and services.

And though Vancouver’s been grappling with millions of dollars in shortfalls and layoffs, he said that wasn’t the motivation behind his decision.

“There are so many potential changes coming over the next two to three years, I just felt the timing of this would be helpful for the city,” said McDonnell. “Being a good leader means sometimes you have to say goodbye.”

As city manager, McDonnell makes $171,650 a year, plus benefits, but has not received a raise since at least February 2008. He declined to say what his salary at SEH will be.

Since being appointed from deputy city manager to city manager in September 2000, McDonnell has been at the helm of a rapidly changing, and often controversial, Vancouver: The expansion and growth around 192nd Avenue. The opening of The Hilton Vancouver Washington. Building the Firstenburg Community Center. The rebirth of downtown and Esther Short Park.

“I and the council take a lot of credit for a lot of things,” said former Mayor Royce Pollard, who worked closely with McDonnell for nine years. “But without a city manager who can implement ideas and dreams …we never would have achieved the success we did.”

But Pollard said that he thought it may not have been just a new opportunity that had McDonnell headed for the door.

“When you think you’re not appreciated, you start looking around,” he said. “Pat McDonnell doesn’t feel appreciated by some of the members of the city council.”

High grades

Both McDonnell and Mayor Tim Leavitt said they have worked together well since Leavitt took office in January.

McDonnell said working with new and different personalities is part of his job description, and that he’s being drawn away by the chance for a new challenge.

Despite the city’s recent doldrums, the city council gave him his highest performance review ever this spring.

“We are a better community because of his leadership,” Leavitt said. “He’s established a resume that many other city managers would be envious of.”

Leavitt said the council will appoint an interim city manager and begin a hunt for a new top administrator.

He said the seven elected officials will formulate their plan over the next few weeks.

Both men said that with the retirement of Fire Chief Don Bivins and several other department heads, now was a natural time for McDonnell to make his departure.

“I have to replace my fire chief, and you have to really be able to commit” to working with them for a period of time, McDonnell said. “I wasn’t comfortable that I could do that.”

SEH advocate

McDonnell is already a familiar face at SEH America: Last year he helped bring about the deal for SEH to buy the Hewlett-Packard campus, where the company plans to expand someday, on Southeast 34th Street for $55 million.

Earlier this month, the city agreed to borrow $1.1 million to develop wetlands in the Oakbrook neighborhood that may allow SEH to expand its current operations on its campus off Northeast 112th Avenue.

In 2005, he also helped lobby the state to give chip manufacturers a tax break in order to encourage SEH to make new 300mm wafers in Vancouver, said Bart Phillips, president of the Columbia River Economic Development Council. The company has invested $500 million in the area since, he said.

“Pat loves the game of economic development, that’s my judgment,” Phillips said.

Vancouver Firefighters Union President Mark Johnston also praised McDonnell’s business acumen.

But he also had reservations about some of his policies.

“I’m not real happy with his decisions regarding staffing of the fire department,” Johnston said, referencing the city’s current plans to close a fire station and the planned layoffs of up to 18 firefighters.

With the departure of Bivins, McDonnell and numerous top city staff, “it’s a lot of change and it creates anxiety,” he said.

A long run

Pollard, Leavitt, the city’s police chief, and others pointed to McDonnell’s longevity in the city’s top administrative seat as a sign of his skill.

Police Chief Cliff Cook said McDonnell “was one of the big reasons” he came to Vancouver in 2007. He said the city manager has been “very supportive” of public safety.

“He’s focused on trying to maintain a level of service that the community expects, but having to do so with dwindling resources,” Cook said. “It’s a difficult problem, but it’s one he’s faced head-on.”

Previous city manager Vernon Stoner held the job for four years, and his predecessor, John Fischbach, for five. Paul Grattet, who died this month at 74, held the job from 1980 to 1990.

A 2005 study by the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia found that nationwide, the average tenure of a city manager is 6.9 years.

McDonnell said he had several job offers from the private sector. And though he was born in Minnesota, he took the SEH job in part because he could remain in Vancouver, where he’s been for 23 years.

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“I’ve been able to help this community grow and I think be a better place to be in the last 10 years on all levels,” McDonnell said. “I really firmly believe this is a noble profession, and it’s been an honor and privilege to be able to do this.”

Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.

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