Janet Anderson, the chief operating officer of Olympic Community Action Programs, is succeeding Executive Director Tim Hockett on an interim — but potentially permanent — basis.
Anderson, a 22-year OlyCAP employee, was named interim director by the nonprofit organization’s board of directors last week and will continue as its chief operations officer, according to a statement released Tuesday by Human Resources Director Betsi Farrell.
Anderson “brings a wealth of experience to this position” but eventually will delegate some of her operations officer duties, the statement said.
Hockett announced Dec. 9 that he is resigning effective Dec. 31, though his last day on the job with OlyCAP, which administers low-income programs in Clallam and Jefferson counties, was Friday.
Anderson, 59, of Marrowstone Island, said Wednesday she and the board agreed she would head the organization for a year before deciding whether to apply for the executive director position on a permanent basis.
“It’s a year time period to make sure there is sufficient time to get in there and see the effects of my efforts,” said Anderson, who began working at OlyCAP in 1989 as a grant writer.
“What I would say is, this is clearly not a short-term commitment, my taking on this interim role,” she added.
“I don’t think you work 20-plus years at Community Action without having a real strong commitment and passion for services for members in your community. I certainly do have that.”
The board is still formalizing her $82,000-a-year contract, an increase of $12,000 over her present salary, she said Wednesday.
“It’s a very challenging time for nonprofits and for community action agencies, and I think the board certainly wants a commitment for whomever they put in that role, and I am willing to make that a firm commitment for a year,” she said. “That gives them and me an opportunity to see if it’s a good fit.
“It’s not a requirement to make it beyond that at this point.”
Anderson has been working out of OlyCAP’s Port Townsend office and will continue to do so but will make frequent trips throughout Jefferson and Clallam counties, including Port Angeles, where Hockett lived.
When he announced his resignation, Hockett said he never fully came back from a year of treatment after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003.
He also cited stress as a major reason for his departure and the “frustration” of directing a social services agency that is trying to serve the needy with fewer grants and less government funding.
Hockett’s hiring in 1989 coincided with OlyCAP’s first year of partnership with the Peninsula Daily News’ annual Peninsula Home Fund drive, which began Thanksgiving and ends New Year’s Eve.
The Home Fund generated $248,267 that OlyCAP distributed to low-income residents in 2010, a record.
OlyCAP serves 11,000 individuals and households annually, Hockett said in an earlier interview.
But its staff shrank from 268 in January to 201 as of the beginning of December, and the budget dwindled from $12.4 million in 2009 to a projected $9.4 million in 2012 — an anticipated 24 percent drop in two years.
Anderson said she will keep close watch on the budget and the flow of grants and government funding.
“Internal monitoring will extend up to the board as far as them getting updates in real, targeted ways,” she said.
The stresses of holding both jobs will be “a real challenge,” Anderson added.
“For me, it certainly is helpful to feel like I have a team of folks at work that can communicate pretty directly and clearly so you are not isolated and manage it on your own,” she said. “I feel very fortunate.”
In addition, “I find I rest a lot on the weekends,” Anderson added, spending time with her husband, Michael Bowe, 62.
The couple has a daughter, Sophia, in college.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladaily
news.com.
