Glendale Manager Takes Post Near Seattle

After nine years on the job as city manager, David Ramsey is leaving Glendale for Kirkland, Wash., a city less than one-fourth the size of Glendale.

“It’s an opportunity to return to the Northwest, where I was born and raised, where my roots are,” Ramsey said Wednesday. “A change at this point is healthy for everyone. There’s a time to stay and a time to go in this position.”

Ramsey, who now earns $159,780 not including benefits, will be paid between $98,000 and $110,000 in Kirkland.

Though Ramsey is well liked by the council which he served, some expressed reservations about his governing philosophy, but not his ability or integrity.

“I didn’t agree with his philosophy, but he was a good manager,” said Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg, who described herself as a critic of Ramsey. “He was a good person. I think he caught a disease from me; it’s called going home again. This happens to those of us over 50.”

Glendale, the third largest city in the county with nearly 200,000 residents, is a difficult city to manage, Mayor Larry Zarian said.

“But David Ramsey dealt with it very well, the issues here. It’s difficult when you have to answer to five council members, all with different opinions.

“But he never told me how to vote, how to think,” Zarian said. “He recommended, that’s it. He has a good sense of the community, he’s a visionary. He just faced a very divisive place.”

Proposals by Ramsey to build a homeless shelter and to offer second mortgages to low-income residents were among programs that Bremberg objected to.

“At a time when we had to cut the budget, cut jobs, we couldn’t afford these things,” Bremberg said. “Meanwhile, $385,000 was voted to redecorate the manager’s office and council offices.”

Ramsey may have been prompted to take the new job after council discussions of his job performance, Bremberg said.

“We discussed his job performance at a few closed sessions of the council, but hadn’t voted on it,” she said.

Other council members declined to comment on how a vote may have turned out, but agreed that removing Ramsey would probably have been a contentious issue.

“Now we’ll never know how the vote would’ve gone,” Bremberg said.

Ramsey, who was interviewed by the Kirkland council on Aug. 11, said he will assume his new job Oct. 1.

Ramsey is the second-longest serving city manager in Glendale history. Ramsey will return to a suburb of his hometown to serve a city of 42,000.

“I spent 20 years in Glendale, I’ll miss it,” he said. “I’m excited about what we set in motion here. Now new challenges await me.”