Camas begins city administrator search

The city of Camas has begun the recruitment process for a new city administrator, and officials hope to select a successor to Nina Regor in December.

Regor, who had been the city administrator since January, died unexpectedly on Oct. 6 following an ongoing illness. A celebration of life service — led by Mayor Scott Higgins, who is also a pastor — was held Saturday at Journey Community Church in downtown Camas.

“We were shocked and saddened by Nina’s passing, but celebrate the time we had with her and the skills and talents she brought to our organization and community,” Higgins said

According to a press release, the city plans an expedited recruitment process that will make use of the results from the city administrator selection process completed within the past year.

Higgins will also contact community members and other community leaders in the region to identify potential candidates.

The city will complete the recruitment internally with assistance from Waldron, a regional human resources consulting firm that completed the city’s previous city administrator recruitment.

“We learned a whole lot about some of what not to do, and some of what to do through previous searches,” Higgins said during a recent City Council meeting. “We gathered a tremendous amount of information and resources. My plan is to use that information and create a very abbreviated search process with the goal of having someone in place by the end of the year. I don’t believe this is an unattainable goal.”

Applications will be accepted through Friday, Nov. 15. Finalists will be interviewed the week of Dec. 2.

A team consisting of Higgins, a council member, city staff and others will review the applications using an assessment developed by Waldron. Consultants from Waldron will review the qualifications of the finalists and complete background and reference checks.

The goal is to have a new city administrator begin working in January 2014.

“We have a proud history of investing in diverse economic growth, encouraging development of livable, family oriented neighborhoods, protecting open space and building parks and other recreational amenities,” Higgins said. “We look forward to finding the right individual that can help us continue to provide our residents and businesses with the amenities, high level of service and professionalism they have come to expect from us.”The salary range for the city administrator position is $113,500 to $135,600, plus benefits. The city of 20,200 people is served by approximately 175 full time equivalent city employees.A job description is available at www.cityofcamas.us. Currently a portion of the city administrator duties are being handled by Human Resources Director Jennifer Gorsuch. In addition, Ridgefield based consultant Paul Lewis has been hired on a temporary basis to assist the city with duties including bringing the consolidation of the Camas-Washougal fire departments to a conclusion, assisting with union contract negotiations, working on the 2014 budget, and being available to department heads, if needed.