Camas news briefs for June 18, 2020

City of Camas to host virtual Town Hall June 29

The city of Camas will host a virtual Town Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. June 29.

Camas Mayor Barry McDonnell said the town hall does not have one set topic, but is meant to be a way for the public to communicate with city council members and the mayor, learn more about their elected officials and to have city leaders answer constituents’ questions.

The meeting will be held on Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/95033517477. To send questions for the town hall’s question-and-answer (Q&A) portion, email administration@cityofcamas.us.

Camas kicks off 2020-21 budget process

The city of Camas officially kicked off its 2020-21 budget season this week, after the city’s finance director, Cathy Huber Nickerson, gave a presentation on the budget timeline at the city council’s Monday, June 15 meeting.

“This officially kicks us off,” Huber Nickerson said Monday, after presenting the city council with a six-month timeline until the budget’s adoption. “We’ll have more information at the next council meeting.”

The timeline calls for more budget preparations throughout June; gathering public engagement in July; having in-depth council workshops in August; more public outreach in September; a series of budget presentations in October; public hearings in November; and the final public hearing and adoption of the budget in December.

To view the city’s 2019-20 and 2017-18 budgets, visit cityofcamas.us/financereporting/budget

Camas narrows search for city administrator

City leaders in Camas have narrowed the search for a new city administrator.

Camas Mayor Barry McDonnell said this week the city recently completed eight interviews with “great candidates.”

Former Camas City Administrator Pete Capell, who had run the city’s day-to-day business since 2013, announced his retirement in December 2019. In January, the Camas City Council hired Waldron, an executive-search firm with offices in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, to lead the search for Camas’ next administrator.

“This is the most important hire in our city right now,” Camas councilman Don Chaney said in January.

Waldron had detailed an 18-week process that included community open houses and interviews with key stakeholders, but the COVID-19 crisis and its subsequent statewide shutdowns have put that timeline on hold.

“We’re still moving along,” McDonnell said. “Hopefully, we will be able to meet in person in July. We’re just (limited by the COVID-19 crisis) right now.”

Once the city has moved into Phase 3 of Governor Jay Inslee’s four-phase reopening, McDonnell said city leaders hope to release the candidates’ names and move forward with in-person interviews and with engaging the public in the decision-making process.