Kennewick city manager receives fiery annual review. Council again shows its divide

The Kennewick city manager will receive a 5% raise the council voted 4-3 Tuesday night after a rancorous public review of her performance.

Council members nearly uniformly praised the performance of Marie Mosley, the city manager for nearly 11 years, in an hour-long discussion.

But two members of the council, John Trumbo and Bill McKay, said she had lost their trust.

“The issue is will our city manager accept that her role must be as apolitical as humanly possible and will the council members have complete trust in her in both words and deeds,” Trumbo said.

He accused her of meddling in council business behind the backs of some council members.

Mayor Don Britain accused Trumbo of creating a “conspiracy theory,” and other council members questioned why Trumbo was bringing up perceived issues from years ago in this annual review.

“In the last year we have seen city manager Mosley perform amazingly well in difficult circumstances and make the city of Kennewick look excellent the entire time,” said Mayor Pro Tem Steve Lee.

She has led a leadership team that is “nothing short of amazing,” and is paid less than the median salary for managers of cities the size of Kennewick, he said.

“I understand it is really fun to whip up some controversy but there is just not a lot to be found here,” he said.

The raise of about $10,000 to Mosley’s annual salary of about $205,000 is intended to cover two years.

She volunteered to forgo a raise last year as the city struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Review held early

The council was split along common lines for controversial issues for the vote Tuesday night on her raise.

Trumbo, McKay and Councilman Brad Beauchamp voted against the raise and Britain, Lee and Councilmen Jim Millbauer and Chuck Torelli voted in favor.

The city manager performance review was held earlier than in recent years after Mosley requested a change to how they are done.

In recent years the reviews have been held in mid- to late-December or after the first of the new year, with a review held in closed-door session as allowed under state law for personnel issues. That is followed at a later council meeting with a vote on a raise.

Trumbo, McKay and Beauchamp questioned why the review was being held earlier this year but failed to get a fourth vote needed after Trumbo moved to delay the review until December or January. Washington state law requires a performance review by the end of January.

Delaying the review could have led to a different outcome on the vote for a 5% pay raise.

In January 2022, the balance of power on the council will shift after Britain and Lee, who are sometimes part of a four-member majority on contentious issues, were not re-elected.

They will be replaced by Gretl Crawford and Loren Anderson who were called part of a “dream team” during the election with the three council members who opposed the raise.

More transparency in council business was a campaign issue for several of those winning election or re-election to the city council, and Mosley said she requested her review to be held during an open session as a result.

Both the discussion and vote were scheduled for a single meeting, rather than being drawn out into two meetings.

Trust issues

Among issues raised by Trumbo that he said had eroded his trust in Mosley was a campaign contribution her husband made to Mayor Britain.

He also said that three years ago she failed to tell McKay that a council agenda item had been added to a council meeting to decide whether to cover the legal fees of then-embattled Mayor Steve Young in a recall attempt.

McKay left town on a planned trip and missed the opportunity to help block payment of the fees.

Trumbo also was concerned that the city ethics officer changed course and dismissed an ethics complaint filed against Britain after the officer talked to Mosley about the intent of the city’s ethics policy.

In another incident, Trumbo criticized Mosley for not telling the council members in closed session why she had fired former Fire Chief Vince Beasley about two years ago.

He said it looked suspicious that firefighter union negotiations settled quickly after Beasley was ousted, saying that the chief’s union employees wanted him gone.

City manager responds

Mosley said she was offended to hear the suggestion that the firing of the fire chief was done in return for a possible advantage in union negotiations.

“There was nothing like that that went on,” she said. “Again it is a matter of not fully understanding what occurred. There are things I cannot discuss nor will I discuss.”

The council has direct hiring authority only over the city manager and the city manager is responsible for hiring and firing other city staff.

She also said she was offended by the accusation that her husband’s campaign contribution showed she was staking out a special interest in a council member.

Her husband and family have a right to make campaign contributions and vote as they choose. But she did not contribute to council campaigns, she said.

On the matter of Britain’s ethics complaint, she said the ethics officer asked her whether the city’s ethics policy extended to Britain’s actions when not representing the city of Kennewick, in this case behavior that caused him to be fired from his job with the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services.

She was asked and answered directly, saying she did not believe the city policy was meant to cover actions not related to city business, she said.

The issue with McKay’s notification of a council agenda change three years ago happened when she had been out of town and a last minute change needed to be made to the agenda, she said. Young needed a decision on whether the city would pay his legal bills as he faced a deadline on filing an appeal.

Mosley said she appreciated Trumbo and McKay bringing up their issues with trust, but believes there are misunderstandings.

“The way I interpret what happened in those situations that Council member Trumbo and Council member McKay bring up are different than the way they interpret what happened in those situations,” she said.

“If I made a mistake, I hope that I can be forgiven for a mistake that I made,” she said. “I don’t believe that was ever my intent to do anything to intentionally exclude Council member McKay or Council member Trumbo or to interfere with a potential investigation that was going on.”

She has offered to meet with any council member biweekly, or more frequently, she said. And they are welcome to reach her on her cell at any time to discuss matters within the legal constraints of what she can talk about, she said.

“I hope that we can continue to build that trust and move forward to make this organization the organization that we really all want it to be ... and make this community a better place,” she said.

Mosley praised in review

Trumbo said he based his vote on Mosley’s raise on what city taxpayers could afford to pay.

Beauchamp, who said he was impressed with Mosley’s performance and wants to see her continue as city manager, but also questioned whether the raise was appropriate.

As a business owner, he can’t always afford to give annual raises routinely, even when that has meant that some good employees have left for better opportunities, he said.

Other council members said Kennewick was lucky to have a manager with Mosley’s skills and work ethic.

The last two years have been exceptionally stressful with COVID-19, protests and law and order issues, Torelli said.

Mosley and senior staff have shown the leadership to help the city do an outstanding job in meeting challenges, he said.

Torelli praised her for her leadership in getting a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic set up at the fairgrounds in Kennewick, just a week after Gov. Jay Inslee promised a Tri-Cities clinic.

During Black Lives Matter protests, she led the city to strike a fair balance between free speech and order, he said.

“I believe she has done an exceptional job,” Torelli said.