Camas reveals city administrator finalists

Peter S. Capell

Capell has worked for Clark County since February 1997, when he was hired as county engineer. In May 2000, he was promoted to public works director, where he manages a staff of 250 employees who are responsible for roads, parks, storm water, wastewater and the county fleet. The department is responsible for construction, operations and maintenance of county infrastructure.

From 1978 to 1997, Capell worked for private consulting firm Century West Engineering, where he served in positions including vice president, project manager and engineer.

Capell holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Oregon State University.

Joe Hannan

Hannan has worked as the city administrator for the City of Mukilteo, Wash., since November 2007. Last month, the city’s new mayor announced that she would be assuming the duties of the city administrator, essentially eliminating that position when she takes office Jan. 1. As city administrator, Hannan oversees 120 employees who serve the city of 20,360 residents with services including police, fire, community development, public works, recreation and cultural arts. During his time in Mukilteo, he has overseen the construction of new city hall and community center facilities.

His past jobs have included economic development director for the City of Lakewood, Wash., from 2002 to 2007, as well as city manager in Fife, Wash., and Redmond, Ore., and city administrator in Myrtle Creek, Ore.

Hannan holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California — Santa Barbara.

Peter M. Mayer

Mayer worked as the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation director from April 2009 until June 2012, when he accepted the position of deputy director and chief operating officer for the Snohomish Health District in Everett, Wash. At the health district, he oversees 164 employees and a $17 million budget. Mayer also worked for the City of Mercer Island from August 2000 to March 2009, when he served first as the parks and recreation director and then the assistant city manager.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in recreation and leisure studies from Washington State University-Pullman. In 2002, Mayer completed the Cascade Public Executive Program through the University of Washington.

Three men — two with ties to Clark County government — will be interviewed this week for the position of Camas city administrator.

Mayor Scott Higgins said Monday that the three finalists are Peter S. Capell, current Clark County public works director; Joe Hannan, current Mukilteo city administrator; and Peter M. Mayer, former Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation director and current deputy director and chief operations officer of the Snohomish Health District in Everett.

On Thursday, all three candidates will be interviewed by a panel composed of Councilwoman Melissa Smith, financial consultant Paul Lewis, Human Resources Director and Acting City Administrator Jennifer Gorsuch, former Camas Mayor Nan Henriksen, Port of Camas-Washougal Executive Director David Ripp and a representative from Sharp Microelectronics. Higgins will then interview the top two or all three of the candidates, depending on the feedback he receives from the panel.

The mayor said he hopes to offer the position to his top choice Thursday night, pending contract negotiations, and have the new city administrator begin working by early January 2014.

The three finalists were selected from a pool of 17 candidates who submitted resumes for the position during a two-week application period that ended Nov. 15.

The expedited recruitment process is making use of knowledge gathered during the Camas city administrator search and selection process completed by regional human resources consulting firm Waldron, Inc., late last year, which resulted in the hiring of Nina Regor in December. Regor, 51, died unexpectedly on Oct. 6, following an ongoing illness.

“All three of these candidates have been vetted through Waldron and we think are potentially very good candidates,” Higgins said. “The process will now be allowed to take place and I pray that we will have an administrator in place by the end of the year with timing for people to leave their old positions and come to a new position.”

Waldron has completed pre-interviews with all three finalists. The company will also complete background and reference checks.

The salary range for the city administrator position is $113,500 to $135,600, plus benefits. The city of 20,320 people is served by approximately 175 full time equivalent city employees.Since Regor stepped down from her position in mid-September, portions of the city administrator duties have been handled by Gorsuch and Higgins, as well as Lewis who was hired on a temporary basis through Dec. 31 to assist the city.

“We will move forward in something we didn’t anticipate we would have to do,” Higgins said of the search process for a new city administrator. “We’ll do it, and we are going to grow from it, and I think things will go well.”