Maple Valley city manager resigns from his post

Kent resident Hemstad out as of July 21

Maple Valley City Manager Anthony Hemstad has quit his post, submitting a brief handwritten letter of resignation on July 17, the same day the City Council conducted two executive sessions for employee reviews.

The resignation from Hemstad, who resides in Kent, was effective July 21. In the letter, he requested that he be put on paid administrative leave for the few days between submitting the letter and his last official day.

He spent five and a half years with the city.

“If the City Council authorizes it, I will work with the city attorney to present a resignation agreement for the city’s consideration,” Hemstad wrote. “It has been a great pleasure to serve the people of Maple Valley and to work with a dedicated and committed staff.”

The letter was obtained by the Reporter via a public records request.

Hemstad’s resignation was announced at the Council’s July 17 meeting without explanation.

His resignation was accepted by the City Council, according to Christy Toddy, city attorney and interim city manager.

The council planned to “have a discussion about how to proceed with a search for” Hemstad’s replacement on Monday night, “including evaluating proposals from professional search firms,” Todd said.

Mayor Laure Iddings said the city’s parting of ways with Hemstad was a mutual decision.

“He is going on to pursue his passions, which are his consulting work and his political career, both of which he is fantastic at,” Iddings said. “And it looks like we may be one of his first consulting clients.”

Hemstad was elected last year as commissioner of King County Hospital District 1, which governs Valley Medical Center.

On July 22, Hemstad contacted the Reporter by e-mail, saying he would be taking a vacation before looking at what he’ll do next in his career.

“In the short term, I’ll do some consulting for a bit while exploring the job market,” he said. “I’m not sure what exactly I’ll do long-term after this. Part of the vacation is (for) pondering issues like that.”

Hemstad included in his e-mail a note he sent to the City Hall staff.

“Professionally it is time for me to move on in my career,” Hemstad said in the memo. “While I have found this role engaging, challenging and constantly changing, it is time for me to step back and reassess what to do for the next stage in my life. It is hard to do that in a job like city manager, which takes total commitment and very long hours. A less hectic schedule is needed to get some perspective.”

Hemstad has two young children with whom he said he’d like to spend some more time.

He hopes to work with the city as a consultant during the transition on a limited basis on issues like the “donut hole,” so-named because it’s a 160-acre site owned by King County inside the city off Southeast 272nd Street and 228th Street Southeast. It’s also known as the Summit Pit site.

The county is in negotiations with developer YarrowBay, which wants to purchase the property, and the nature of how the site may developed has been controversial for 18 months.

Iddings said nothing but good things about Hemstad’s work for the city.

“He’s very personable, he’s got a lot of charisma,” she said. “He has a lot of contacts, and his ability to work that political process has just been phenomenal.”

She credited Hemstad for his work lobbying the Legislature in Olympia for state dollars that Iddings said Maple Valley may not have been otherwise able to get.

City managers supervise city employees and the day-to-day operations of municipal services in a city manager-council form of government such as Maple Valley’s. The council sets policy and is the legislative body.

The City Council will begin work on who will fill Hemstad’s shoes both on a temporary and long-term basis, using an approach similar to the one Covington employed when searching for a replacement for Andy Dempsey, who left that city in 2006.

“We’re going to be looking for an interim city manager to keep the ship moving for six to eight months while we search for another city manager,” Iddings said.

“This is the first time in 12 years we’ve had to actively go out and recruit for a city manager. Covington has shared their information and their process and some of their contacts. They’ve been very good at sharing their lessons learned.”

Prior to working for Maple Valley, Hemstad operated his own public affairs firm in Europe for close to a decade. He also served on the staff of then-U.S. Sen. Dan Evans.