TACOMA, WASHINGTON—As expected, the Tacoma City Council Tuesday night appointed its interim city manager to the post sought by Evanston’s city manager Wally Bobkiewicz.
The official appointment became obvious Saturday when the council rejected its three finalists, including Bobkiewicz, and urged Elizabeth Pauli, its interim manager, to throw her hat in the ring, which she did.
Pauli had been serving as interim city manager since the resignation of T. C. Broadnax, who left to accept a similar position in Dallas, Tex., in February.
The council had winnowed the list of applicants to three finalists that included the deputy city managers of Fayetteville, N.C. and Amarillo, Tex., in addition to Bobkiewicz. After deliberating for more than an hour Saturday morning, the council returned to announce they had failed to agree on either of the finalists, after which Bobkiewicz withdrew his application and returned to Evanston.
At the time that Pauli, who was Tacoma’s city attorney, was named interim manager, she said she was not interested in applying for the permanent position, but changed her mind when the council deadlocked Saturday morning.
She first joined the City of Tacoma in May 1998 as assistant city attorney. She was named acting city attorney in 2004 and city attorney in 2005. Before she joined the city, she was a partner at a Tacoma law firm.
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, Pauli also has bachelor of science degrees from UW in education and social work.
When Bobkiewicz returned to Evanston over the weekend, he issued a statement in which he pledged that he was committed to the City of Evanston and that he planned not to seek work elsewhere “in the near future.”
A “grateful” Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty said that the Tacoma episode illustrated that Bobkiewicz is regarded as one of the nation’s top city managers.
Earlier story:
What now for Wally B?
Now that the Tacoma job is no longer available, and Wally has made a new commitment to the city of Evanston, are we now obligated to give him a raise to keep him here? I remember him refusing to take a raise a few years ago. His tenure here has been wrought with sceptism and a lot of naysaing about his job performance from the general public. Maybe it is time the city launch its own search for a new manager, to see if we could do better.
Please Explain the Baloney
and how does this experience prove that Wally is one of the nations top city managers? If he was so great, then Tacoma would have hired him. Evanston is now getting a reject.
What else could he say ?
The article says:
“When Bobkiewicz returned to Evanston over the weekend, he issued a statement in which he pledged that he was committed to the City of Evanston and that he planned not to seek work elsewhere “in the near future.”
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Sounds like since he was rejected, he had to “say” he really likes Evanston [and learned he probably won’t get a job elsewhere where they would review is record.]
Reminds me of Viet Nam—declare victory no matter the loss.
I Agree
Yes…we all know that the mayor had to say what he did, and so did Wally. The issue is, is that their comments were SO blatantly transparent. Anyone who can’t read into that is not getting the real picture of the city politics. It’s almost funny……it’s been going on for years…at least since Wally got hired.
I Agree
I sure hope that others realize how their statements were a bit off the wall!