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Mayor Hernandez discusses water wells, staffing and strong-mayor government
Summary
Mayor Norma Hernandez told commissioners she has expanded city staffing, increased water-well capacity from about 1.5 wells to seven, and described College Place as a strong-mayor form of government with a focus on completing infrastructure projects before major development.
Mayor Norma Hernandez spent a Q&A period with the Youth Advisory Commission on Feb. 19 outlining the city’s recent staffing, infrastructure and planning priorities.
Hernandez said that when she became mayor in early 2019 the city had “1.5 water wells” available and that the city now has seven wells in service and is working on an eighth. “When I became mayor, we had 1.5 water wells. Today we are we have 7 now,” she said, describing well construction challenges in one recent borehole and the city’s need for higher-capacity wells as development proceeds.
Hernandez described the city’s governance as a strong-mayor system, in which the elected mayor has substantial executive authority and a city administrator manages day-to-day operations. She said her administration has focused on hiring staff and creating new positions — including a deputy clerk and a police lieutenant — to address service gaps and reduce work falling through administrative cracks.
She highlighted projects completed or underway — sidewalks, street maintenance, new police cars, body-worn cameras, and fire apparatus acquired largely through grant funding — and said her priorities for the remainder of the term include completing Lions Park work and preparing infrastructure for planned residential development near the high school that could add several hundred homes.
Hernandez noted that her current mayoral term runs through December 2025 and described efforts to secure grant funding to avoid burdening local taxpayers for some capital purchases.
