Eric Holmes can scratch “assistant” from his title: The Vancouver City Council said Monday they want Holmes, the assistant city manager, to succeed Pat McDonnell as city manager.
Citing his experience as city manager in Battle Ground, his intricate knowledge of Vancouver, and his strong economic development background, they announced their unanimous decision following three hours of public interview and private deliberations.
“I have full faith and confidence in Eric Holmes as city manager,” Mayor Tim Leavitt said. “I look forward to working with him.”
Holmes, 41, emerged as the sole applicant after the city council decided in September to limit its search to current city employees and those who had worked there within the last two years. Holmes has worked intimately with many city department heads in the last year to balance the city’s $9.1 million budget deficit and has also been a part of McDonnell’s succession plan.
The city council hired Portland headhunting firm Waldron & Co. for $15,000 to help them outline qualifications for an internal candidate and vet Holmes.
Holmes will take the helm after McDonnell’s last day on Nov. 1; McDonnell, who has been Vancouver’s city manager for a decade, has taken a job at SEH America. Holmes’ acceptance of the position is contingent on salary and benefits, which are still to be negotiated. Holmes’ pay as assistant city manager is $122,868 a year, plus benefits. McDonnell earns $171,650 a year.
Councilors Jeanne Harris and Jeanne Stewart had originally said they wanted to conduct a larger search for a city manager with more experience running a large city, but both said they have since changed their minds.
“Re-reviewing his resume, I see collectively he has about 15 years of doing city manager type work,” Stewart said. “He’s sold me on his competence.”
Holmes has 20 years experience in public administration, including as the planning director for Washougal and Battle Ground and as city manager in Battle Ground. He was hired as Vancouver’s economic development director in 2007, after a year as chief financial officer for MacKay & Sposito, a private-sector consulting firm. He was appointed Vancouver’s assistant city manager in April. He holds a bachelor’s degree in planning, public policy and management from the University of Oregon, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Lewis & Clark College.
During his interview with the city council, Holmes said he’s been with the city during “the most challenging three years this community has ever faced.”
Almost immediately after taking the reins, Holmes will have to hire a new fire chief and also a new assistant city manager. He will also need to engage unions on controlling salary and benefit costs to the city, which are largely behind the gap in revenue and spending.
He said his strengths are as a visionary thinker, so he will look to backfill his position and surround himself with people who are able to challenge him on his ideas, and supply the practical details and pitfalls of a strategy.
Holmes, who is soft-spoken, seemed slightly nervous at the beginning of the interview, but relaxed into the discussion, and frequently used the words “trust,” “challenges” and “opportunities” in speaking about what he hopes to accomplish as the city’s CEO.
He called himself more of a collegial leader than one who makes executive decisions.
“It can’t be one person writing a prescription,” Holmes said. “The challenges we face are too complex, too interconnected.”
But he also said there will be times when he makes the call on his own, and that no matter how a decision was reached, he would assume complete responsibility.
When asked about what he’d like his legacy to be, Holmes responded, to “help us get to a point where we are stable and secure financially.”
With the city grappling with a structural deficit that’s led to a decade of cuts and decline, the city council expressed its belief that Holmes would bring a new perspective and innovative method to solve the problems.
“I had two questions: Have we found the most solid candidate? And did we use the most thorough process?” Councilor Jack Burkman asked. “The answer to both questions is yes. (Holmes) has a skill set that is advanced for his years.”
