New Franklin administrator accepts $150K contract, promises to prove detractors wrong

It’s official, Franklin County is hiring their new county administrator away from the city of Pasco.

Commissioners negotiated a contract with Pasco’s Economic Development Manager Mike Gonzalez, starting at a similar salary to what he is currently making.

The commissioners negotiated the contract with Gonzalez at a special meeting Thursday. While details were hammered out in a closed-door executive session, they discussed some of the key points before the public vote.

Gonzalez told commissioners earlier this week that his salary with the city has a base of $148,000 plus $500 monthly travel expenses and targeted bonuses of $2,500 if certain economic development milestones are met.

He is likely to make slightly less with Franklin County once his total compensation is added up.

Human Resources Director Sam Hughes confirmed to the Herald that Gonzalez will start at $150,000.

Commissioners had previously discussed a structure that would have allowed the ability to bring his pay higher if he meets certain targets. It’s unclear if that was included in the contract and what the criteria would be.

The details were not made public.

Current interim Administrator Duane Davidson’s salary is set at $145,000, which is what the previous administrator had been making.

However, Davidson is the retired state treasurer for Washington and also previously served as Benton County’s elected treasurer. He only intended to stay long enough to help the county transition to a new leader.

Franklin County also is in the early stages of beginning a salary survey, after months of public comments from department heads and elected officials about losing employees due to uncompetitive pay ranges.

Gonzalez’s contract was approved 2-1 with Commissioner Peck voting against. Gonzalez is expected to start on March 31. He’s expected to give his notice to the city of Pasco on Friday.

Split vote

Peck said he opposed hiring Gonzalez because he didn’t meet the qualifications the county initially said were critical for that position and also that it will cost more to keep Davidson on for longer to help train Gonzalez.

Peck released extensive comments at the commission’s last meeting, detailing his reasoning. His full comments can be read at the link below.

Sharply divided Franklin commission votes to hire a new administrator from Tri-Cities

Before the vote to approve the contract Peck pointed to his previous comments and added, “I will summarize by saying that what you are proposing in this resolution in compensation for this particular candidate is in my judgment, and I think in the judgment of many employees and taxpayers, a slap in the face of every employee past, present and future who is required to begin their employment at step one with Franklin County based on their qualifications for their positions.”

Peck has stated that he has nothing against Gonzalez personally. Among his other reasons were that the county was not following the process they had laid out, that it was going to cost them more money despite foregoing a search firm in order to save money and that others who didn’t meet the listed criteria might have applied had they known they didn’t need to meet all of them.

Franklin County employee salaries are determined by their pay grade with each pay grade having seven steps at each level depending on experience, education and other factors.

The pay range for the county administrator position was set in the job listing as $135,000 to $155,000 annually.

Benton County’s administrator was making about $157,000 in 2021. All three Tri-Cities city managers make more than $200,000.

The county received nine applications for the position. The commission has refused to release the information about the finalists to the public despite hosting a public meet and greet for candidates who were able to attend interviews in-person.

Rick Rudometkin is the only other candidate for the administrator position who has been publicly named.

He is currently a city manager in Hunstville, Texas, and has previously worked in Washington state in administrative roles.

At their previous meeting, Mullen and Didier praised Gonzalez, saying they believe he’s the right choice to move the county forward.

“I think Mr. Gonzalez would be an incredible opportunity for Franklin County to groom an administrator up under Mr. Davidson to possibly be one of the best administrators in the state,” Didier said Tuesday. “I would much prefer to have someone who knows the area, in particular the city of Pasco, and no reason to move. He has roots here.”

Gonzalez response

After Thursday’s vote, Gonzalez said, “I do want to send a message to the community that this commission may not always sing in harmony, but I promise that we will sing together. To the commissioners who supported me through this process, I thank you. Your support means a lot to me.”

“To Commissioner Peck: I plan to prove you wrong, but through all of this and and what was said, which at times I think went way too far to prove a point, and at times got nasty in my opinion, I still consider you a friend and I hope, as you promised, you will help me achieve my goals and the vision for this county. I believe in kindness, compassion and working together,” he continued.

Gonzalez also addressed county employees, saying his door, and heart, will always be open to them.

His said his message to taxpayers is that he plans to earn every single dollar of his salary and ensure that their return on the investment is great.

He also addressed the county’s large Latino population in Spanish and English, saying that, “What is good for the Latino community, is good for everyone.”

Gonzalez’s background

Gonzalez has served as Pasco’s Economic Development Manager since June 2021.

Last year, he was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee to represent the Tri-Cities on the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Before coming to the city of Pasco he served as the public relations and government affairs director for the Franklin Public Utility District, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Gonzalez has a bachelor’s in communication from North Carolina State University and attended graduate school in journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He later worked as the news director and evening anchor for the Tri-Cities’ ABC station KAPP/KVEW. As is the case with many TV news reporters and anchors, Gonzalez moved among several markets, but returned to the Tri-Cities after leaving the news industry.

He serves on several community boards, such as the Pasco Chamber of Commerce, the Franklin County Republican Party, the Tri-Cities Legislative Council and others.

Other candidate

Peck said Rudometkin was the only candidate who met the criteria set forth in the county’s job description.

Rudometkin has served as a city manager in Sammamish, city administrator in Snoqualmie and in various leadership positions in California, New Mexico and Colorado, according to a 2020 news release from the city of Snoqualmie.

Peck told the Herald earlier this week that Rudometkin has 25 years of experience as an administrator and seven years at the county level in Eddy County, N.M., with budgets ranging from a similar size as Franklin County to as much as three times larger.

He served as city manager in Samammish from May to November 2019 when he was terminated by the city council in a 6-1 vote.

He was given a year’s severance pay, according to local news reports. In May 2022, the Seattle Times reported that Rudometkin was just one of at least three city managers fired by the Sammamish council in under four years. At least one other received a year’s severance.

The Sammamish Front Page, a local government blog, indicated the situation may have been even more severe, with more than half a dozen people serving as interim or city manager in just the two years before Rudometkin was hired.

In January 2020, he was brought on as the interim city administrator in Snoqualmie, and later promoted to the permanent position. He left a little over a year later to take a role as the deputy city administrator in Huntsville at the end of March 2021.

News reports show he has been a finalist for at least two other positions in Florida since taking that job in Hunstville.