Selah council unanimous in selection of new administrator [Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.]

May 18--SELAH -- After three hours in interviews and a half-hour executive session, the Selah City Council on Thursday unanimously confirmed David Kelly of Friday Harbor as its new city administrator.

"I'm just elated," said Kelly, San Juan County's deputy director of administration. "I didn't expect a decision today."

Kelly, 48, has worked for San Juan County for nearly two years dealing with finances, union negotiations and risk management for the island area of 16,000 residents. He has 13 years total experience working for local governments and spent seven years as an insurance agent in Utah before coming to work for San Juan County in 2010.

The City Council still has to vote on a contract for the new city administrator. Mayor John Gawlik said he would soon begin discussing terms of a contract with Kelly.

Gawlik said Kelly's background in city finances and human resources was the biggest reason he landed the job.

"(Kelly) has done a great deal to help his employees" in other local governments, Gawlik said.

Former Falls City, Ore., city administrator Gian Paolo Mammone and current Lake Forest Park executive director of public services Frank Zenk were the other two finalists for the position that had been held by Frank Sweet.

Sweet, who had worked for the city for more than 20 years, was fired in January by the newly elected Gawlik, who cited a difference in management style.

In his resume, Kelly touted his development of a plan that reduced employee benefit costs while maintaining similar benefits, saving San Juan County$500,000 annually. Kelly said his negotiations with unions have never gone to arbitration and contract agreements were often reached ahead of deadlines.

San Juan County has a total budget of $50 million, which Kelly assists in developing each year. Kelly also worked for the city of Chehalis from 1995 to 2003 and for Moffat County in Colorado from 1993 to 1995.

Kelly earned an economics degree from Brigham Young University in 1989, and earned a master's in public administration from the University of Colorado in 1995. Kelly is married with six children, ranging in age from 5 to 24.

Kelly said he and his family are looking forward to moving inland where there is less isolation and hopefully a greater sense of community.

The smallest of Washington's 39 counties, San Juan County comprises 179 of some 200 islands, most of which are accessible only by boat. Kelly's home at Friday Harbor is on the second largest of the islands, San Juan Island, which is west of Anacortes.

"It would be nice to move back to the continental United States," Kelly told the council to their amusement in his interview.

--Contact Mike Faulk at 509-577-7675 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @Mike_Faulk.

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