Eric Holmes faces several challenges as Vancouver’s city manager
The city of Vancouver has a new city manager, and he's ready to hit the ground running.
The Vancouver City Council unanimously voted to hire Assistant City Manager Eric Holmes to fill the city's top leadership position. Pat McDonnell, who served as Vancouver's city manager for more than 10 years, stepped down on November 1st, paving the way for Holmes' appointment.
"I look upon this position as an opportunity to help re-envision how we deliver services in Vancouver, building upon City Manager Pat McDonnell's focus on excellence in a way that continues to benefit the organization and the community," said Holmes.
The council interviewed Holmes in a public workshop last month, then went into executive session to deliberate.
Councilwoman Jeanne Stewart admitted that she wasn't always sold on Holmes as city manager, but the more she listened to his ideas, the more she realized he was the right fit.
"Initially I had some concerns," Stewart told the council during a work session last month. "Primarily, that had to do with his level of experience for a city our size. However, re-reviewing his resume, I saw that collectively he has about 15 years of doing city manager-type business."
Stewart said Holmes won her over during the interview process.
"He talked about innovative government and new business models. He talked about developing relationships of trust. To me, those are key characteristics of leadership," said Stewart. "He's also very experienced in economic development – and when we talk economic development, we are talking job development – and we need jobs."
Holmes said the city needs to find a better way to do business, and he stressed his experience in public leadership as an asset he can bring to the position.
"I've worked with the city for about three years now, and we've been through some of the most challenging times this community has ever faced…" said Holmes. "That has allowed me to look at the challenges with eyes wide open… and I see areas of tremendous potential in Vancouver."
Prior to his appointment as assistant city manager, Holmes served as Vancouver's director of economic development since October 2007. He has a career history of nearly 20 years in public service, including serving as Battle Ground's city manager.
The city council said Holmes' experience in Southwest Washington was important because he already has community relationships in place that an outsider wouldn't have, had the hiring processes expanded to a nationwide search.
"Eric is familiar with the community," said Councilman Bart Hansen. "We're not going to spend a couple of years getting somebody up to speed on what's going on in our community, and that's vital."
