During its Feb. 22 meeting, the Mountlake Terrace City Council learned why the city needs two people to replace retiring Superintendent of Parks and Facilities Ken Courtmanch.

Facing the challenges of keeping up with market average wages, the City of Mountlake Terrace must split the load one person carried for 16 years.

Courtmanch will be retiring from his position in May 2024. After decades of service to Mountlake Terrace, he will leave the city with a gap in experience and a position requiring the work of two full-time employees: a parks supervisor and a facilities supervisor.

Deputy City Manager Carolyn Hope said that the newcomers would face many management challenges taking on the positions, such as the institution of asset management software, technology-related initiatives, and several complex capital projects, making training time with Courtmanch essential.

She explained that the parks supervisor will oversee all park maintenance and operations activities and supervise five full-time employees.

The position will assist with budgeting annual parks maintenance activities and coordinating those tasks with other divisions, departments, outside agencies and the public. The position serves a vital function in the recreation and parks department with responsibilities related to volunteer and special events; making connections in the community and with other agencies; supporting boards, commissions and committees; and assisting with capital projects in addition to maintenance.

The facilities supervisor will be responsible for maintenance, operations and custodial services for city facilities and buildings, including Mountlake Terrace City Hall, Police Station, Mickey Corso Community Clubhouse, Recreation Pavilion, Library, Operations Facility, and other smaller parks-related buildings.

This position supervises the work of five full-time employees and assists with budgeting and coordinating activities with other divisions, departments, outside agencies and the public. The role also assists with coordinating capital projects in addition to preventive and routine maintenance.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl stated that he understood the necessity for the separate positions but expressed concerns about the sustainability of those jobs over time.

Councilmember Erin Murray asked if it was possible to spread the workload of one of the positions to existing employees.

Betz explained that in 2008, the city manager eliminated one of the positions and gave the responsibilities to Courtmanch.

“It’s really made it difficult even for Ken, for an employee that’s been here for decades,” Betz said.

He added there are aspects of the role that Courtmanch, an experienced city staff member, “would admit that he can’t get done.”

Further, Betz expected that a new employee would struggle in this position if they were responsible for both parks and facilities.

“Especially with the condition and of the age of some of our facilities and the amount of work that has to be done going forward,” Betz said. “I really would be worried that the new person taking this position and having a difficult time moving forward.”

As for sharing the workload, it is uncertain who could shoulder the extra work.

“There’s really no one else in park project management, which Ken and I both assist with as well because it’s more work than one person can handle right now,” Betz said.

He added that event coordinators have helped take on tasks from every department in the city but that Courtmanch has expanded the events, which the council will learn more about in an upcoming report. Further, he didn’t “know who would take some of that on.”

Betz said that most people who report to Courtmanch are union represented and aren’t allowed to perform management-style work. Courtmanch has 10 full-time employees –five in property management and five in recreation and parks.

“So that’s it’s a very high number for one person to manage on top of all of the contractors and consultants, people that are giving you quotes on everything from fencing to, you know, HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) repair,” Betz explained. “So, it’s a varied position as well between the two different types of work that needs to be done.”

Councilmember Murray said she is “ a firm believer in the pizza rule; if you can’t feed your direct reports with a pizza, then you probably have too many and 10 is definitely too many to feed with a pizza,” Murray said.

Speaking about the council’s collective response when confirming that the ordinance will go to the consent calendar, Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said, “We have our reservations, but we have no choice.”

The city council moved the ordinance to the council’s March 7 regular meeting consent calendar.

— By Rick Sinnett