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Orting council approves interim city administrator contract with GMP Consultants after removing housing reimbursement
Summary
The Orting City Council authorized a short-term contract with GMP Consultants to provide an interim city administrator (Mark Bethune) and amended the contract to remove a clause reimbursing temporary housing; the amendment passed 6–1 and council approved the amended contract.
The Orting City Council voted Jan. 14 to authorize a short-term contract with GMP Consultants to provide interim city administrator services and to bring back Mark Bethune to help with assessment and recruitment. Before approving the contract, the council voted 6–1 to amend the agreement to remove a clause that would reimburse temporary housing expenses.
Mayor Scott Brennan explained the hire is intended to be budget-neutral and to provide 32 hours per week of interim administrative support while the council seeks a permanent city administrator. "We have been budgeted in '25 and '26 for the utility rate study and...the cost is actually coming in less than we had expected," he said when introducing the contract proposal.
Councilmember Don Tracy raised questions about contract language that bills in "tenths of an hour," asking, "So that tells me that every 6 minutes, you're charging—how's that being monitored?" The consultant and the mayor said that billing and tracking are reviewed through public works and finance and that the contract was written by counsel; Mark Bethune (introduced as a former city administrator working for GMP Consultants) said he would bill at a 32-hour weekly cap.
Councilmembers also pressed on a temporary housing clause and indemnification language. The city attorney from Lighthouse explained the indemnity provision ensures GMP's insurer—rather than the city's risk pool—would handle claims tied to the contractor's conduct: "if the city were to face a lawsuit because of something Mr. Bethune allegedly did... it would be GMP's insurance carrier," the attorney said.
Councilmember Tracy moved to amend the agreement by deleting the sentence requiring the city to reimburse the interim administrator for temporary housing; that amendment was seconded, put to a roll-call-style vote and passed 6–1. The council then voted to approve the contract as amended; the mayor welcomed Bethune back to the role.
The amended contract is effective immediately and was described in the meeting as subject to a short initial term with options for extension or reauthorization at the council’s discretion.
