Spokane launches search for new city administrator

Spokane has launched a nationwide search for a new city administrator.

The city is actively marketing the post, the highest nonelected position in City Hall, online and on its social media pages.

The search starts nearly two months after the departure of former City Administrator Wes Crago, who resigned abruptly less than a year into the job in September.

The city’s posting markets a salary between $159,600 and $162,792 and calls for a “focused dynamic leader and team-builder who is passionate about public service and committed to ensuring partnership, inclusivity, openness, and transparency at every level of the organization.”

Applications will be reviewed starting in January.

Whoever is hired will relieve Public Works Director Scott Simmons, who has filled the post temporarily in Crago’s absence.

They will take the helm as the administration undergoes a restructuring that is aimed at streamlining its major initiatives and reducing the number of people who report directly to the mayor on their progress.

Crago, the former administrator in the small city of Ephrata, was Mayor Nadine Woodward’s first major hire following her election in 2019. Neither has said whether she asked for his resignation or he submitted it on his own volition. Crago has given no hints about the reasons for his departure other than to say he was better-suited for a small city.

In its description of the job in a Facebook post, the city stated that “extensive” experience in government in a city close to or larger in size than Spokane is “necessary.”

Crago was well-liked by members of the City Council, for which he served as a liaison to the administration and shepherded through weekly briefings.

Simmons had previously clashed with the City Council, although there have been no outward displays of animosity since he’s taken on the interim administrator role.