Clark County has announced that two finalists for county manager will visit the county next month to meet community leaders and members of the public before a final decision is made.
The two finalists are Dan Chandler, assistant county administrator for Clackamas County, Ore., and Randall Partington administrator of Finney County, Kan., according to a county news release issued Monday afternoon.
Chandler has held his current position since 2011 and has a background in public, private and nonprofit management, the news release states. He previously lived in Clark County for 20 years and has worked as an attorney, a small business owner and as executive director of conservation group American Wildlands.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Western Washington University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
Partington has held his current position at Finney County, which is located in the western part of Kansas, since 2010 and previously served as the county’s assistant administrator and human resources director, according to the news release.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and a master of public administration from Wichita State University.
Both candidates will make a two-day visit to Clark County beginning Feb. 12, according to the news release. During the first day of their visit, the two will be interviewed by county employees and community leaders.
That day, the public is invited to meet the two finalists during an open house from 5 to 6 p.m. in the sixth-floor Hearing Room of the Public Service Center at 1300 Franklin St. in Vancouver.
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, the council will interview the candidates and make a decision shortly afterwards, according to the news release.
The county manager is the chief executive of Clark County government under the county’s Home Rule Charter. The county has been without a permanent manager since May 2017, when the county council abruptly voted to terminate County Manager Mark McCauley. Councilors have offered little explanation for the decision.
Since July, Jim Rumpeltes, a veteran city and county administrator, has been serving as interim county manager. The following month, the council voted to authorize Rumpeltes to sign a $27,000 contract with Strategic Government Resources, a Texas-based recruiting and consulting firm, to find a permanent county manager.
At the time, council Chair Marc Boldt said that the search for a permanent manager would be complete by December or January. But in December, Boldt expressed disappointment with the recruitment process, saying the search only yielded 22 applications when he was expecting more than 60.
The county has advertised a salary of $160,000 to $180,000 for the position. Previously, McCauley received an annual salary of $169,460 as well as a severance package.
