Lake Stevens council reclassifies parks planner to manager, defers broader staffing package

Lake Stevens City Council on March 10 approved reclassifying a parks planning and development coordinator to a parks planning and development manager, a change staff said recognizes months of out‑of‑class work and protects the department’s ability to deliver capital projects.

The reclassification was the only item the council approved from a larger package of organizational changes brought by Human Resources Director Anya Warrington and city leadership. The broader plan, presented to the council by Public Works Director Aaron Halverson and others, would convert the senior civil engineer to a capital projects coordinator and the city engineer position to a deputy public works director to centralize capital‑project delivery and reduce the public works director’s span of control.

“The idea is to add a capital project coordinator … to really focus on day‑to‑day capital project work,” Public Works Director Aaron Halverson said, describing an intended shift so technical staff can deliver more grant‑ and budget‑funded projects. Halverson said the changes would create three full‑time equivalents dedicated to capital delivery but could reduce in‑house engineering expertise and require some on‑call consulting.

Parks and Recreation Director Sarah Garsow told the council the parks planning coordinator has “been paid out of class for almost nine months” after the role evolved to include end‑to‑end project leadership, consultant and contract management, and federal grant administration. Garsow said removing a vacant revenue development specialist and reclassifying the coordinator would allow the parks department to continue delivery of nine large capital projects in the coming year.

City Administrator Gene and HR Director Anya Warrington outlined a parallel proposal to add a management analyst to lead cross‑department strategic planning, project prioritization and initiatives such as an AI effort and an enterprise resource planning rollout. Staff proposed funding part of the new analyst position by abolishing the revenue development specialist.

Council members pressed staff on budget impacts and vacancy assumptions. Staff presented a full‑year scenario showing a roughly $25,000 net increase if all positions were filled Jan. 1, but explained that mid‑year hires and existing vacancy savings would likely produce salary savings for 2026. Staff also warned that sustained understaffing risks failing to deliver grant‑funded projects.

Several councilors said they were sympathetic to staff concerns about burnout and retention but wanted more detail before approving the whole package. “Maybe if it would be helpful, we can list the tasks that are going to have to fall off,” City Administrator Gene said, urging the council to weigh which projects would be paused without added staff.

Mayor called a motion to reclassify the parks planning and development coordinator to manager while tabling the remainder of the staffing package. The motion was made and seconded and carried after one councilor announced an abstention. (The transcript records an abstention by speaker S8 and no recorded votes in opposition.)

The council directed staff to return with more information — including a list of specific duties that would not be completed if changes were not made and a review of vacancies that might be permanently closed — before considering the broader set of reorganizations.