Newcomb takes over clerk post in Mattawa

Robin Newcomb, whose last assignment was with the City of Kittitas, has taken over as city clerk of Mattawa.

by Royal Register Editor & Ted Escobar
| May 18, 2011 6:15 AM

MATTAWA - Robin Newcomb of Kittitas is the new city clerk in Mattawa, as of May 1.

Newcomb has taken over for Diane Hanson, who was hired as a temporary clerk and worked about a year. Hanson will resume her retirement.

Hanson was a half-time city clerk and worked only the weeks of city council meetings. Newcomb will be a full-time clerk.

Newcomb was the Kittitas city clerk from 2005 until she took the Mattawa job. She became aware of the opening because of a training relationship with Hanson and Mattawa Finance Officer Diane Martinez. She applied.

"It was time for a change," she said.

Newcomb certainly wasn't lured by the money. Mattawa pays 40 cents more per hour than Kittitas. That difference is not likely to make up for her commuting costs.

Newcomb is a native of Kittitas, graduating from Kittitas High in 1983. She graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in business administration in 1987.

"I was thinking more just general business then," she said.

Newcomb married and moved to Seattle. There she worked for Milwaukee Electric Tool. After three children, the Newcombs moved to Ellensburg in 1992 in search of a place to raise a family. She worked in accounting for Kittitas County.

Later Newcomb took over as city clerk at Kittitas. She was the lone employee at City Hall the last two years.

Because of the relationship she's had with Hanson and Martinez, Newcomb has been to Mattawa several times. She believes it won't take long to feel at home.

"I like it here," she said. "I like the mayor. I like the office workers."