SeaTac in Danger of Losing City Manager Cole

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April 23, 2024

"Carl has successfully led our city through the pandemic and met every budget objective the council has asked, so there is no reason to dismiss him." - SeaTac Councilmember Peter Kwon

by Katie Kresly.[updated] Lately, Burien has become painfully aware of how important good city leadership and management are to public health and well-being of a city. Without conscientious leaders, a city can easily fall apart.

The residents and business owners of Burien have been looking at SeaTac and asking why the King County Sheriff is willing to support THEIR camping ordinance, but is refusing to enforce Burien's similar ordinance, especially surrounding "day camping" on sidewalks and other public spaces.

For many years, the City of SeaTac has elected council members who supported their residents, businesses, and their police force. Their current City Manager Carl Cole was SeaTac's long-time police chief who understands the dynamics of SeaTac, so he has been able to meaningfully support the police.

By contrast, the policies and dynamics of Burien's outgoing council left a trail of chaos for the current council: lawsuits, endless current encampments, criminal drug use, police that refuse to uphold certain Burien laws, and now there are people dying on the streets.

SeaTac's City Manager Cole has served the city well for many years. It is not clear why he recently tendered his Letter of Resignation.

If SeaTac decides to replace its successful city manager, the replacement person will undoubtedly face a steep learning curve. SeaTac is currently stable, so why change the city manager? Will this lead SeaTac to have similar problems as Burien is currently facing?We reached out to the SeaTac Councilmembers and to City Manager Cole for comment, but we only heard from Councilmember Kwon. The others have yet to respond. We will publish if they do.

Here is what CM Peter Kwon sent to Burien-News:

Your city council will consider removing our City Manager Carl Cole at our council meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 4/23) at 6pm. Carl Cole has served as our City Manager since January 2019 and has done a great job so I believe it benefits our city to keep him on.Before being our City Manager, Carl was our Police Chief for many years and is intimately familiar with our neighborhoods and residents. In his spare time, Carl also gives back to our community and volunteers with organizations such as our local Rotary and our Chamber of Commerce.Carl has successfully led our city through the pandemic and met every budget objective the council has asked, so there is no reason to dismiss him.Currently there are at least five other cities looking to hire a City Manager and every one of them is paying more than what SeaTac is paying Carl so we are getting an excellent value for an excellent City Manager; it would cost our city MORE to hire someone new with less experience.Please voice your concerns at the council meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6pm, or send an email to CityCouncil@seatacwa.gov. You are encouraged to sign up by 2pm tomorrow to comment at the 6pm meeting Details on the comment process is available here:https://www.seatacwa.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/32945/637891766521630000You can see the agenda item and resolution here:https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=73282&mt=ALL&vl=true&get_month=4&get_year=2024&dsp=agm&seq=6415&rev=0&ag=482&ln=17496&nseq=6417&nrev=0&pseq=&prev=&vl=true#ReturnTo17496I hope to see you tomorrow evening. Thanks.

-Peter

[UPDATED 4/24/24:]

The SeaTac City Council voted 4-2 to accept the city manager's resignation letter. Several SeaTac residents expressed gratitude for Cole's service, but questioned why he gave his resignation. All councilmembers said they appreciated Cole's dedication to SeaTac for many years.

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