It’s official: Allison Williams will be Moses Lake’s first female city manager

MOSES LAKE — It’s official — Allison Williams has signed her contract to be the next city manager of Moses Lake. Williams, expected to start her new job Jan. 27, will be the first woman ever to serve in that role.

The decision follows a conditional offer made in mid-November shortly after Williams and two other candidates were introduced to Moses Lake residents. After a meet-and-greet and a subsequent interview by council members and local business interests last month, Williams was quickly selected to be the City’s next top executive. Though City officials have widely expected that Williams would accept the job offer, contract negotiations dragged on for a number of weeks as details were hammered out between Williams and the City.

Before coming to Moses Lake, Williams had been with the City of Wenatchee for 21 years and spent 14 years there as the Executive Services Director.

“Allison brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience to the City of Moses Lake and the City is lucky to have such a qualified candidate,” a mid-November press release stated.

Allison Williams will be filling a seat vacated by outgoing city manager John Williams, no relation, who resigned in June following a misconduct scandal that also led to the departure of deputy city manager Gilbert Alvarado.

Those accusations largely alleged that Alvarado had harassed female subordinates for years and that John Williams had emotionally abused and failed to protect the employees who worked under him. Allison Williams said in November that she would strive to re-instill trust between administrators and city employees.

“We have been through our ups and downs in Wenatchee,” Allison Williams said. “And in order to turn things around, you have to be present, you have to be consistent, you have to reach out to people, you have to hear people, you have to make sure people know they’re heard, and then you have to put good practices into place.”

Williams, who comes most recently from decades of public service in Wenatchee, said in November that she expects to be with Moses Lake for the long haul.

“When you’ve been doing the work of the community, these things take time,” Allison Williams said. “When you do a land use plan, and you take it through to implementation, that is not something you can do in two years. That’s what you can count on from me, that when I’m committed, I’m in, and I’ve shown it with my track record.”

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.