Moses Lake city manager resigns
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 8 months AGO
Outgoing Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams, right, gets a hug from retiring Moses Lake Public Works Superintendent Tony Massa following a special city council meeting on Friday where Williams submitted her resignation.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams, Mayor Don Myers, and City Attorney Katherine Kennison talk prior to Friday’s special Moses Lake city council meeting where Williams submitted, and the city council accepted, her resignation.
Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams resigned at a short city council meeting on Friday. Williams’ last day will be May 31.
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake city council accepted the resignation of City Manager Allison Williams at a special meeting on Friday and named Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr as acting city manager.
“The council decided we are going to go in a different direction and elected with Allison’s approval to exercise separation,” said Mayor Don Myers after the five-minute-long council meeting.
Neither Myers nor Williams gave any details on the nature of the disagreement or any specifics on the separation agreement. Williams’ resignation will be effective on May 31.
“They have the ability within my contract to exercise the right to ask for my resignation for the city’s convenience,” Williams said after the meeting. “And so I provided my resignation.”
Williams, who received a standing ovation from a nearly-full city council chamber at the end of the meeting, thanked all the Moses Lake city employees who helped her when she came to work in Moses Lake in late 2019 from a stint as executive services director for the city of Wenatchee.
“I’ve left the city in a better place. I came into a situation with lawsuits, lack of policies, lack of vision, no updated (comprehensive) plan. I have many, many accomplishments to take credit for,” Williams said. “But none of that happens without the support of the employees who do the work.”
In closing, Williams had an encouraging message for city residents.
“Moses Lake has a great future and I wish everyone the best for the next leadership,” she added.
Both Myers and Fuhr said the city will begin looking for Williams’ replacement immediately.
“My job at this point is just going to be to find somebody to fill Allison’s shoes,” Fuhr said. “That’s the extent of it.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.
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