Post Falls official to resign

Post Falls City Administrator Jim Hammond is resigning at year’s end, giving the city eight months to find a replacement.

The announcement comes just weeks after Hammond, a Republican, announced his bid for the state Senate. Hammond said his resignation has nothing to do with his campaign and that his Senate aspirations shouldn’t interfere with days left overseeing the rapidly growing city with 140 full-time employees.

He plans to attend campaign events in the early mornings and evenings and go door-to-door on the weekends. Hammond is vying against Democrat Chuck Thomas, a retired Coeur d’Alene firefighter, to replace retiring Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d’Alene.

Hammond also will look for another career, perhaps consulting in the areas of education and city governance.

“Whether I win or not, I still have to find work,” Hammond said Friday. “It’s really kind of an adventure for me.”

Hammond, a former mayor who took the city administrator job a decade ago, said he intended to resign a year ago but that Mayor Clay Larkin asked him to stay. Then he planned to quit this spring, but opted to stay after Larkin had heart surgery that required months of recovery. He wanted to give the city plenty of time to find a replacement.

There are potential internal candidates, but Hammond wouldn’t speculate on names. The mayor and council now must decide whether to conduct a regional search or keep it local.

Larkin didn’t return phone calls Friday seeking comment for this story.

Hammond said he initially took the city administrator job because the city was in turmoil, having had two city managers and two interim managers within five years. The former elementary school principal intended to stay only three years, but then discovered he enjoyed the job that focuses on carrying out the wishes of the mayor and council.

Since then, the town’s population has doubled and a lot of the job has centered on managing growth.

The new city administrator will help finish Post Falls’ desire to build a downtown, including a new City Hall.