Walla Walla approves $180,000 to $200,000 salary range for new city manager

Published 5:00 am Monday, August 15, 2022

WALLA WALLA — Candidates to become the next chief executive of the city of Walla Walla will be offered between $180,000 and $200,000, a salary range the city council approved Wednesday, Aug. 10.

Solidifying the initial salary offer is just the latest step in what will be a monthslong process to hire a new city manager to replace Nabiel Shawa, who has served in that position since 2009 and is expected to retire early next year.

While the city of Walla Walla has a mayor, a position currently held by Tom Scribner, the title is largely ceremonial. Instead, the city manager is the chief executive.

At the end of July, the City Council voted to approve a contract with Strategic Government Resources, a Texas-based hiring firm, from five finalists. SGR will work in the coming months to attract candidates based on feedback from the council, departmental leadership and a community panel.

As part of that process, SGR had recommended the city advertise a salary range for the position to help make it clear to candidates what they might be offered. To come up with the range, city staff looked at comparable Washington cities based on population, assessed valuation and sales tax revenue, according to a presentation Wednesday.

Council member Rick Eskil expressed some concern about the high salary being offered to the city’s already highest-paid employee, noting that Washington’s governor receives a salary of a little under $191,000. All other members of the state’s executive branch, including the Washington State attorney general, receive a salary of less than $180,000.

The average household income in the city of Walla Walla is around $54,400, according to the 2020 census.

Currently, Shawa receives an annual salary of a little more than $187,000, which SGR and other hiring firms considered by the city had suggested was a discounted rate for his experience. Offering no less than $180,000 allows Walla Walla to attract the best candidates in a tight job market, argued Council member Gustavo Reyna and others.

The salary range is not set in stone, however, noted Mayor Tom Scribner.

“One of the things that we want in a city manager is someone with good negotiation skills, and one of the ways that he/she/they demonstrate negotiation skills is maybe even negotiating more than $200,000,” Scribner said.

“I probably shouldn’t have opened that door, but, you know, fools rush in,” he added, grinning.

The contract with SGR is expected to cost between $30,000 and $40,000. SGR will interview city officials to determine what qualities are sought in a city manager so the firm can put together criteria for potential candidates.

SGR will then narrow the number of applicants to a short list of between 8-12 candidates, and council members will interview each to narrow the list further to three to five finalists.

Those finalists will then be brought to Walla Walla, likely in November, to meet in-person with council members, department heads and the public.

Council members will each submit two names that are diverse in some manner, whether based on their age, gender, political ideology, ethnicity or otherwise. This citizens group will help provide feedback during the recruitment process.

The council will make the final decision on approving the candidate and their contract. Ideally, the chosen candidate will be selected by the end of the year, Scribner noted, to give that person time to transition before Shawa’s retirement.