Recruiting Vancouver’s next City Manager
In April, the Vancouver City Council launched a nationwide recruitment to hire Vancouver’s next City Manager. The City is searching now due to the upcoming retirement of current City Manager Eric Holmes in October.
Vancouver operates under a council-manager form of government, meaning the City Council appoints a City Manager to serve as the city’s chief executive. The role and responsibilities of the City Manager are defined in the City Charter and the Revised Code of Washington.
City Council to appoint Vancouver’s next City Manager
After conducting a national search that included input from the community and employees, the Vancouver City Council voted to appoint Lon Pluckhahn as Vancouver’s next City Manager on Monday, Aug 12. This appointment is effective at 5:01 p.m. on Oct. 11.
Lon Pluckhahn is currently a Deputy City Manager in the City of Vancouver, WA, where he has served since August of 2021. He oversees a slate of departments responsible for the City’s built environment, including Community Development, Economic Prosperity and Housing, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, Policy and Program Management, and Public Works. Lon grew up in the midwestern United States and graduated from Iowa State University, where he earned master’s degrees in both Community and Regional Planning and Public Administration.
With a career now spanning 30 years in service to local governments, he has extensive executive experience in City Management. His last position before moving west to join Vancouver was as the City Manager of Marion, Iowa, where he spent nearly 15 years leading its transition from a traditional first-ring suburb to an active urban center. With a strong background in economic development, housing, municipal finance, and organizational and community development, he has a track record of innovation and success in leading dynamic and growing communities. A dedicated student of the profession of City Management, he is a past president of the Iowa City/County Management Association. He is currently serving as President of the International City/County Management Association.
Hiring Process
The City is committed to a transparent and open search. The City Council has formed a subcommittee to lead the search. The subcommittee comprises Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Mayor Pro-Tem Eric Paulsen, and Councilmember Bart Hansen. The entire Council will determine who will be hired.
The City has contracted with Bob Murray and Associates to help manage the recruitment. The goal is to appoint Vancouver’s next City Manager in early fall. The public is invited to participate by providing input that will inform the hiring process.
Community Input
A survey was opened from April 23 to May 15 to collect feedback regarding what is important to the community regarding the search for the next City Manager. The survey included five open-answer questions covering Vancouver’s challenges, skills and experience, management and leadership, community interaction, and general input for the Council to consider when making this hire. We received 190 responses (189 in English and 1 in Spanish). View the survey analysis.