PORT TOWNSEND — Deborah Stinson will remain Port Townsend’s mayor after a unanimous City Council vote this week.
“It’s nice to have that vote of confidence from my fellow council members,” she said Wednesday. “I’ve been working hard at the job and feel like I’m ready to take on the next two years.”
The Port Townsend City Council voted to retain Stinson as the city’s mayor for the next two years during its meeting Tuesday evening after Councilwoman Michelle Sandoval, a former mayor, turned down a nomination from Councilman Robert Gray.
Sandoval, Pamela Adams and Ariel Speser were each sworn into office and will have four-year terms on the council.
Stinson’s second four-year term on the City Council is set to expire at the end of 2019. This will be her second two-year term as mayor. The City Council elects a new mayor every two years.
After Councilman David Faber — who was elected the city’s deputy mayor — nominated Stinson, Gray nominated Sandoval.
“She led us through some very difficult times,” he said. “To meet the challenges of this period, it would be wise to get behind nominating Michelle Sandoval.”
Sandoval said she was “taken aback” by the nomination and that she appreciated the sentiment, but turned down the nomination.
“I would like to see a continuation, particularly because we’re going through a transition,” she told Gray. “You and I can keep pushing things along. I would like to decline the nomination with great thanks to you for your kind words.”
Stinson said she understands Gray’s reasoning for nominating Sandoval and appreciated her turning down the nomination.
“I appreciate having her support and it meant even that much more that she said ‘no,’” Stinson said. “Michelle does have a proven track record of being a strong leader. She’s done her job [as mayor] and she continues to do a good job on council.”
Stinson said the city will face a number of challenges this year, including capital projects and finding solutions for affordable housing.
One of the top priorities, she said, will be finding a city manager to step in when David Timmons retires from the position at the end of the year.
That process hasn’t started yet, but she said it is paramount the city finds the right city manager.
“It’s critical to our success,” she said. “The city manager is our CEO and is responsible for all of our day-to-day operations. The council is strictly policy.”
She said in her time serving on the City Council, she has been amazed at the amount of knowledge that a city manager needs to run a city.
As the city begins working on a succession plan for when Timmons steps down, it also will be working on a number of projects, she said.
“So many of the other things that are critical to us are going to depend on getting that right,” she said. “I have no doubt that the current city manager is not going to coast into retirement.”
She said the city will have to have a balanced workload this year as it it moves forward on projects.
“There’s a lot that we need to do and we’ll have to prioritize and be very selective about what we do so we can allow staff to be successful,” she said. “There is a lot going on right now.”
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
