Mayor proposes changing code to allow outside interim finance director as Lynnwood prepares for June vacancy

Mayor Hurst told the Lynnwood City Council on May 20 that Finance Director Michelle Meyer's last day with the city will be June 5 and proposed two changes to municipal practice: extend the maximum interim finance director appointment from 90 days to six months and remove a requirement in LMC 2.12 that the interim be a city employee so the mayor could appoint a bonded external candidate.

The mayor said the position's fiduciary responsibilities and bonding requirement make finding a permanent replacement likely to take months, and that recent layoffs in the finance department left no internal employee with the skills or bandwidth to serve as interim. He said the city attorney and HR director reviewed the code and that the language as written (dating to 1996) creates a potential speed bump to quickly naming an interim.

Councilmember Partial questioned whether the code phrasing makes the appointment mandatory or permissive; councilmembers said cleaning up the ordinance for clarity would be useful. The mayor said the proposed changes would be presented as a revised ordinance at the next business meeting so the council can review it and permit a prompt interim appointment.

No formal appointment was made at the work session; council members indicated support for clarifying the code but did not vote on an interim appointment.