Oct. 2 Daily News editorial

Woodland has been one of the fastest-growing communities in Cowlitz County for almost a decade. The city has grown by more than 36 percent since 2000, and is continuing to add more residents at a rapid pace — many who work in Vancouver and Portland and choose to live in a more rural or suburban setting. The Woodland City Council has had to expand from five to seven members to accommodate the community’s growing population.

One of the two members added to the council in 2008, Benjamin Fredricks, thinks the city has outgrown its strong-mayor form of government and could benefit from the services of a professional city manager. Fredricks led a successful effort to put the question to Woodland voters in the upcoming November election. We share Fredricks’ view, and believe voters would do well to grant council members the authority to hire a city manager.

Hiring a city manager require’s the approval of Woodland voters, because it involves changing the city charter. Under a city manager form of government, the mayor becomes the eighth council member; he or she is elected mayor by fellow council members, rather than a citywide vote. A city manager, hired by the council, supervises department heads and handles the day-to-day operations of the city.

The cost of hiring and paying a city manager will naturally give voters pause during this difficult economic time. But improving the day-to-day management of government operations can be expected to lead to cost-efficiencies. City business gets complicated as communities grow. There are labor negotiations, legal issues and a ton of state and federal red tape to navigate.

Nowadays it just cost-efficient to have a full-time professional who understands those complexities and can better apply for grants and effect savings, when cities reach a certain size. By most standards, Woodland is ready for a city manager. Smaller Washington cities have dumped the strong-mayor system in favor of a city manager.

Like cities large and small across the state, Woodland has struggled to bring its budget into balance at a time when revenues have declined sharply. A city manager might well make a difference. One certainly did for Kelso. Former Kelso Mayor Don Gregory commented in a 2005 interview with The Daily News that the city’s finances were in a mess before the city hired former manager Doug Robinson more than a decade ago. “We were close to borrowing money to meet payroll,” Gregory said. “We were in horrible shape.” Robinson soon righted the fiscal ship, balancing the budget. The city began to function efficiently, within its means.

Woodland’s annual operating budget totals around $16 million. That’s a big responsibility for someone who may lack training and/or experience in city management. As Fredricks noted during a council meeting last March, “You can have somebody that can win an election. It doesn’t mean that he can run the city effectively. If your business was a $16 million-a-year business, would you put someone in charge of your business that has no experience operating this type of business?”

That’s a question Woodland voters might want to ponder before filling out their November ballot. We believe it’s past time that Woodland sought the services of a professional manager.