Moses Lake meets new city manager
Moses Lake’s incoming City manager Robert Karlinsey, center, and his wife Michelle Karlinsey talk with former Moses Lake Mayor David Curnel at a meet-and-greet event at the Moses Lake Civic Center Tuesday. Karlinsey, who has been the city manager of Kenmore, Washington for 13 years, will take over in Moses Lake officially March 24.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s incoming city manager paid a visit to the Civic Center on Tuesday evening to meet city employees and community members.
Robert Karlinsey, who accepted the position Jan. 21, is currently the city manager in Kenmore, a city of about 24,000 at the north end of Lake Washington in King County. He takes the reins in Moses Lake on March 24, but he’ll be coming over to Moses Lake occasionally in the meantime to prepare, he said.
About 40 people turned out at the Civic Center to meet Robert Karlinsey and his wife, Michelle Karlinsey.
“It's surprising how much people in Kenmore know about Moses Lake,” he said. “They know people from Moses Lake, or they grew up there or their parents grew up there, and the number one thing we hear is, ‘You're going to love the people.’”
“(Karlinsey) talked a lot (in his interview) about talking to staff, talking to council and getting to know them, and spent a lot of time asking people, where do we want to go?” said Council Member David Skaug. “… It seemed like he had a lot of experience in dealing with people and management.”
Moses Lake’s search for a city manager hasn’t been an easy one in recent years. Former City Manager Kevin Fuhr retired from the position in June for health reasons. Fuhr, previously the Moses Lake chief of police, stepped up to replace Allison Williams, who had taken on the position in 2019 after her predecessor John Williams and his deputy city manager Gilbert Alvarado resigned amid allegations of misconduct.
The Moses Lake City Council interviewed two candidates in December, and a third candidate withdrew his name after being named as a finalist but before the interviews.
“That's a challenge that a lot of municipalities have faced in a lot of positions,” said Mayor Dustin Swartz. “This is something we hear at (Association of Washington Cities) conferences a lot, about how to fill the positions we need to fill … But it was well worth the wait, and we really appreciate that along the way Kevin Fuhr stepped up and took that position as a longtime community member. It really gave us stability for a period. But, yeah, we're ready to move forward.”