Recently, the Federal Way City Council has made two consequential choices regarding the city’s direction.
City manager’s departure
On May 5, the council announced it would not renew the contract for city manager Neal Beets. Council members stressed that this was not a termination or firing of Beets, but rather a “separation agreement.” Regardless of the council’s politically-correct wording, the dictionary defines termination as “to dismiss from employment,” and the decision to not renew the contract of Federal Way’s highest-paid employee is a dismissal from employment.
In the end, the council made a business decision, concluding that Beets was not the best fit to run Federal Way’s day-to-day operations. In his performance review last summer, it was noted that Beets needed to improve communication with the city council as well as his organizational leadership skills (he also received a 2 percent pay raise). One can infer that these factors contributed to the council’s 5-2 decision.
However, the entire process appears a bit disingenuous. Despite rumblings that Beets was up for another performance review, the public had a right to know that such a discussion would take place. The council owed the public a notification as well as a chance to comment. Instead, the issue was added to the city council’s agenda at the last minute and seemed to come out of nowhere.
The appointment of Police Chief Brian Wilson is also a head-scratcher because Federal Way employs two assistant city managers, Cary Roe and Bryant Enge. The public should appreciate the police chief’s willingness to fill in during a time of transition. But isn’t that the point of paying an assistant city manager — to have an assistant who can step in and manage the city when necessary?
Even if Roe or Enge wish to apply for the city manager position, with no guarantees of landing the permanent job, it seems logical to follow the chain of command. After all, Deputy Chief Andy Hwang will serve as acting police chief while Wilson serves as interim city manager.
Amid this entire scenario, the public unfortunately must also endure a whiff of B.S. despite the council’s best intentions.
The Mirror urges the council to include the community in its upcoming search for an ideal city manager in Federal Way.
City Center Access
The Federal Way City Council played ostrich on the City Center Access project, which included an I-5 on/off ramp at 312th Street.
The council caved in to one neighborhood and denied the city a much-needed traffic relief option. The decision wasted six years of labor and more than $2 million on a problem in need of an unpopular solution. Council members showed an interest in bringing parts of the project back for consideration at a later date. But after six years, what more do they need to know?
On a side note, there is a learning moment here. Once the project neared the point of action, the residents reacted in panic. Several residents of the affected area said they first heard about the proposal in The Mirror. As much as The Mirror takes pride in keeping Federal Way informed, a project six years in the making should not have caught these residents by surprise had the city focused on proper communication from the start.
