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Grant freeze pauses hiring for Tumwater urban-forester post; climate element work continues
Summary
City staff reported the hiring process for an urban-forester position is paused because a federal memorandum froze grant disbursements to the city's grantor; staff said climate-element public comments are being incorporated and other planning work continues.
Alyssa (city staff) told the Tumwater Tree Board on Feb. 10 that the city has received 15 applications for an urban-forester position but must pause hiring because the grant funding supporting the post has been put on hold.
"We have 15 applicants for the urban forester position so far," Alyssa said. "...because of the federal memorandum freezing grant funds ... our granter doesn't have access to the federal funds and, has told us to pause all grant activity. While we have a lot of great applicants, we cannot interview them or proceed with the grant until we learn otherwise."
Why it matters: the position is tied to an externally funded grant; without access to those federal dollars the city cannot proceed with interviews or the funded work. Alyssa said the city is still accepting applications and that applicants were notified the hire is contingent on grant funding.
Details from the meeting: Alyssa said the federal action was a memorandum from the federal-level budget office and that the city's grantor told staff to pause. She also said the grant application contained language that now triggers screening for certain flagged words and examples that could affect funding eligibility. "Equity is in the title," she said, noting that language in the grant may be among the flagged terms. Staff will await guidance from the grantor and the federal government before scheduling interviews.
Staff also reported progress on the city's climate element. Alyssa said the planning team received nearly 200 cells of comments in an Excel spreadsheet and that the city's climate policy advisory team will meet to prioritize actions in the resilience subelement. "I am presenting tomorrow night to the planning commission, the resilience subelement," she said, describing that work as the adaptation portion of the climate element.
There was no formal vote or change to city policy at the meeting. Board members asked for updates as information becomes available; Alyssa said she would continue monthly updates.
Ending: Staff asked board members to stay informed while the city awaits the grantor's direction. The hiring freeze and related delays will remain in place until the city receives explicit guidance from the grantor or federal authorities.
