CITY STAFF
New Administrator Rolls Up Her Sleeves BY HEATHER THOMAS, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
I
t’s been a few weeks since I joined the I hope you all see this as an exciting City and I’ve enjoyed getting to know opportunity as well. Rarely is a city able the dedicated staff and councilmembers to hire an administrator that knows the working hard every community. I am day to serve you. deeply vested, both I look forward personally and to meeting many professionally, in To take on this role in of you moving bringing out the forward. In the best for the staff, a community that has meantime, here’s a the council, and played such a big part of little bit about me. the businesses and that we I love working in our lives is really a dream residents serve. local government. You have come true moment. This is a role that my heartfelt I’ve been working commitment to towards for almost supporting you and 20 years when I the staff in moving started a job in the City of Snohomish forward so that the Engineering Division at the City of we’re ready for future opportunities. Oceanside in California. That’s where I found my passion for the public sector and serving my community. This isn’t just a job for me; the work fulfills me. Finding creative solutions energizes me. I like to listen and learn so that I can find where gaps or bottlenecks happen. That’s where my idea for www. SnohomishOverdosePrevention.com was borne. Or hearing frustrations from staff that they couldn’t do adult fatality reviews for suicide and overdose deaths like they’ve done for child death reviews because of the RCW. Last month, after three years of hard work, SHB 1074 was unanimously approved by the legislature. I look forward to using my creative problem solving skills here in Snohomish. This community is important to me. Nearly 30 years ago, my parents made the decision to move us from Anchorage, Alaska to Snohomish. This is where I met my husband of 20+ years and some of my dearest friends. My parents still live here and my family lives near Seattle Hill Rd. Our three kids (9, 13 and 15) have grown up enjoying many of the amazing things that this City has to offer. To take on this role in a community that has played such a big part of our lives is really a dream come true moment.
INSTAGRAM: @SNOHO.MOJO
SNOHOMISH QUA R TER LY
SPRING 2022
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