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Mayor announces Jay Mason to become Tumwater police chief July 1
Summary
Mayor Debbie Sullivan said Deputy/Commander Jay Mason will become the City of Tumwater’s police chief effective July 1, 2025, following Chief Wicks’s retirement; the appointment will follow civil-service process and use the city’s director-contract template.
Mayor Debbie Sullivan announced at the April 15 meeting that Chief Wicks will retire effective June 30, 2025, and that Commander/Deputy Chief Jay Mason will step into the chief role effective July 1, 2025.
The mayor said she reached the decision after consultations and ride-alongs with department personnel and leadership. She described Mason as an internal candidate who maintains continuity and said the appointment is intended to avoid prolonged leadership limbo and allow the department to move forward.
Mayor Sullivan told the council that Mason’s appointment will be processed through civil service commission procedures and that the city has a director-contract template (recently approved by council) that covers such hires; accordingly, the council will not vote separately on the contract unless the terms differed from the template.
Why it matters: The appointment sets department leadership following a scheduled retirement and is intended to provide continuity for ongoing public-safety operations. Council members asked clarifying process questions; the mayor said the change is an administrative personnel decision that will be implemented on July 1.
