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Tumwater council approves standardized employment-agreement template for department directors
Summary
The council authorized a template employment agreement to be used for current and future department directors, standardizing severance, at-will terms, and job-description attachments; the motion passed unanimously on March 18, 2025.
TUMWATER, Wash. — On March 18, 2025, the Tumwater City Council voted unanimously to approve a standardized employment-agreement template for department director positions and authorized the mayor to sign agreements in substantially similar form.
City Administrator Parks presented the template, saying the goal was parity and consistency across director positions. "The why is, as I mentioned, is to ensure that all of the directors have employment agreements," Parks said, adding that the template would also standardize terms across positions.
Key provisions: The template emphasizes that department directors serve at-will and attaches each director’s job description to make an agreement specific to a position. The proposed template standardizes severance language; Parks told the council existing severance for directors ranges from two to six months and the template suggests six months, consistent with the City Administrator’s agreement. Salaries remain tied to the city’s salary-and-grade system adopted in the annual budget.
Scope: Administrator Parks identified seven director positions that already have agreements (fire chief; transportation and engineering director; administrative services director; police chief; water resources and sustainability director; city attorney; finance director) and three directors without current agreements (parks and recreation director, community development director, and the new IT director position). The presentation said the template would be used to update existing agreements and to create new ones for positions that lack them.
Council action: Council member Swarthout moved to approve and authorize the mayor to sign the employment agreements in substantially similar form, as recommended by the Budget and Finance Committee; Council member Jefferson seconded the motion. The council approved the motion by voice vote.
Additional context: Council members asked whether the positions are union-covered; Administrator Parks confirmed these director positions are not union positions. Parks said the template is intended to help recruiting and to address inconsistent contract language among current agreements.
