Soap Lake suspends search for city administrator

SOAP LAKE - At the Nov. 16 city council meeting, the mayor of Soap Lake announced that she was stopping her search for a permanent city administrator.

“After looking at our budget, a proposed budget for 2023, I cannot in good conscience recommend a city administrator at this time,” said Soap Lake Mayor Michelle Agliano in the meeting.

In an interview after the meeting, Agliano said she is trying to be a fiscally responsible mayor and felt that there was no room in the budget for 2023 to hire a full-time city administrator. She said the funds would be better used to pay off some of the loans or debts the city has. That move, she said, would put Soap Lake in better financial standing.

“I’m just trying to pull us a little closer in fiscally so that we can be a viable city as long as possible,” Agliano said.

She said a lot of the loans are related to capital budget improvements that were needed but added up to more than she thinks is physically responsible for the city to carry at one time. She also explained that the city budget suffered the last few years due to COVID-19 not bringing in as much tourism and tax revenue as they had expected because of the many businesses that closed or had reduced customers. She also said on top of those hits, inflation has also added to the pressure on the budget.

The idea to hire a new, full-time city administrator or to extend Police Chief Ryan Cox’s interim contract will be reviewed at the conclusion of his current contract at the end of March, Agliano said.

“My goal is to help us be fiscally responsible,” said Agliano. “I want to make sure the city is being just as good a steward of the funds we’re given as a family (would).”

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.