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LYNNWOOD—The Lynnwood City Council voted not to move forward with Interim Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Director Joel Faber for the Director position during its Business Meeting on Monday, October 28, following a contentious council discussion.

The vote came with four no’s, with Councilman David Parshall as the sole in favor vote. Council members Joshua Binda and Patrick Decker chose to abstain from the vote altogether.

Leading up to the meeting, Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell still planned on moving forward with appointing Joel Faber to the position stating in an email sent to City staff on October 24: “I intend to bring forward Joel as my appointment for the next Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts on Monday night. I respectfully ask that you consider the current state of the department along with Joel’s proven track record as a leader when you cast your confirmation vote.”

Following Monday’s City Council decision, The Lynnwood Times reached out to Mayor Frizzell’s office to ask if this decision has changed in any way but Nathan MacDonald, Manager of Communications and Public Affairs for the City, simply said that Faber will continue to serve as the Interim Director until a clearer path forward is identified.

“When the next permanent PRCA Director is confirmed, we will announce it formally through our communications channels,” said MacDonald.

Leading up to the vote Monday, Councilman Parshall moved to approve Faber as Director which was seconded by Councilman Patrick Decker.

“As a City Council we’re asked to consider out of the three finalists who can do the job? The one person we know can do the job for certain is Director Faber because he’s been doing the job for nearly eight months,” said Parshall to his motion. “It is my pleasure to vote yes to the one person who we absolute know can do this job.”

Councilman Parshall added that he has toured the department with Faber and his senior staff and his experience was the same when he has toured departments with other veteran directors. He saw a well-rounded department dedicated to serving the people and city of Lynnwood.

Furthermore, Parshall noted that staff members in the Parks & Rec Department have described Faber as adaptable, open-minded, a servant and a good communicator. He added that another said under Faber’s leadership the department has thrived.

Councilman Joshua Binda asked City Attorney Lisa Marshall that if the majority of the City Council were to not favor Faber’s appointment, if Mayor Frizzell would still have ultimate authority in the matter.

Marshall replied that the Lynnwood Municipal Code does not say explicitly but according to state law, in a Strong Mayor form of government, a city’s Mayor decides director positions. However, she added, that the City of Lynnwood took its code a step further and stated that all the mayor’s appointees must be approved by the city council, although the code does not state if by vote or not.

Marshall explained that in the state of Washington, under its constitution, there are many forms of cities. Some cities operate under a City Manager, who is in charge of the hiring and firing, and simply appoints a mayor. For city councils with a Strong Mayor form of government, the mayor is in charge of the hiring and firing, she asserts—essentially an elected City Manager position. The other form of city, she added, is a charter (such as Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane).

“The council decided to add this appendage about confirmation but there’s no real instruction there. I think a court would side with the mayor because that’s the type of government you have – that’s the intent. If a fundamental attribute of a mayor form of government is taken away, even with your code, then the question becomes why do you have this form of government,” said Marshall.

Lynnwood City Councilman Patrick Decker chimed in with his research on the matter reciting a state law (Chapter 35A.12 relating to Mayor-Council forms of Government) which reads “no City Council member should be invited to, nor participate, in any administrative interview panel for candidate selection of appointive, officials, or employers.” However, Decker pointed out that the state law does not define an “administrative interview panel.”

The Lynnwood Municipal Code (LMC 2.06) on-the-other-hand, states that the mayor will bring a candidate forward and there will be a confirmation process by the city council which has to be followed. The code further defines an administrative interview panel as interviews, questioning, and hearings before a majority number of city council during Executive Session, Decker said.

Decker continued stating that only after that confirmation process does the mayor have the right to appoint according to the code. However, the code only requires the confirmation process to take place prior to the mayor’s appointment. Nowhere in the code does it state that the city council can vote, select, or otherwise continue to be a part of the confirmation process.

“The City’s in a bad spot. We’ve heard a lot about Joel from a lot of people. We’ve interviewed him, we’ve looked at his resume, and we’ve done the same for other individuals who have applied. I doubt that there’s a consensus across the council around who would be the best individual for this role,” said Decker. “I think Joel is a good, and maybe even a great, candidate. Do I think he’s the best candidate? That’s hard to say. Do I think the council thinks he’s the best candidate? That’s hard to say also. But if the council were to vote no, and the mayor were to appoint Joel anyway, what a horrible thing for our city.”

Decker elaborated that it would look bad on the candidate to have the stamp of disapproval from the Council, and it begs the question why the Council was involved in the process to begin with.

Decker requested Councilman Parshall withdraw his motion to not have Council cast a confirmation vote on the appointment of a Parks & Rec Director, but Parshall declined to do so.

Council President George Hurst addressed both Decker’s comment, as well as City Attorney Marshall’s about there being nothing in the LMC requiring a vote by the council for executive leadership positions, directing them to LMC 2.32.040 which states: “appointments and duties of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Director and other employees shall be appointed by the Mayor subject to a City Council confirmation process in Chapter 2.06 which includes, but is not limited to, a majority vote by the City Council.”

Council President Hurst reminded council that the LMC has this process to ensure that the city is hiring the most capable candidate while stating that the pay grade for this position is one of the highest paid government positions in the state and more than what the Governor of Washington makes annually.

“The people of Lynnwood need to know that their tax dollars are paying the salary of the Director that was selected because that person was the best qualified candidate,” said Council President Hurst. “I do believe this somewhat clunky process has the purpose of taking politics out of appointments for Directors out of the City by bringing forward three candidates this Mayor, and any future Mayor, will not be accused of favoritism, cronyism, nepotism, and by having the City Council be part of the process to advise and consent on appointments the residents of Lynnwood can be assured the best possible candidate will be selected.”

Over the last few days, the city council has received emails and correspondence by past and current Parks & Rec employees, Hurst noted. These correspondences favoring Faber for the position makes clear that he is admired and appreciated by his staff. However, Hurst noted while Faber would undoubtedly do a good job in the role, he could not confirm him for appointment because there was one “superior candidate” during the interview process held during Executive Session. Hurst continued that he believes Faber would be better suited as Deputy Director.

Lynnwood City Council Vice President Altamirano-Crosby criticized Mayor Frizzell for her “lack of transparency” and repeated attempts to “overstep her authority.”

“The Council plays a critical role in considering those appointments. The way the mayor is handling this process could set a troubling precedent; allowing her, and future Mayors, to appoint anyone without proper oversight,” said Vice President Altamirano-Crosby. “We have continued to ask the mayor to follow the rules, but we have continued to feel pressure.”

The Vice President continued that she finds it suspicious that staff have begun to email and make public comments to the council in support of Faber wondering if they were intimidated, harassed, or pressured to do so by Mayor Frizzell or Interim Director Faber.

“We must ask ourselves if any staff members have been pressured into these actions.

Tonight, despite not having the votes to confirm the director, the mayor has organized this agenda to force a vote. As we consider confirming Interim Director Faber, I want to make clear why I will vote against,” said Vice President Altamirano-Crosby.

Altamirano-Crosby also alleged, prior to the council’s vote, that the mayor may have disclosed “confidential information” in violation of RCW 42.23.070(4).

“The Council has received emails from staff supporting Interim Director Faber and requesting that the Council ‘reconsider’ him,” Altamirano-Crosby said. “The Council has not yet taken any action for or against Interim Director Faber, so the only reason staff believes this body should ‘reconsider’ is to infer that the mayor violated the confidentiality of the executive session and shared with him or others the results of the Council’s deliberation.”

Background of Parks Director appointment controversy

When former Lynnwood Parks & Recreation Director, Lynn Sordel, announced his retirement in November of 2023, he left Mayor Frizzell with a succession plan including a list of recommendations for the direction of the Department – including a recommendation to appoint Deputy Director Sarah Olsen as his replacement.

Instead, Mayor Frizzell appointed Joel Faber as Interim Director. Deputy Director Sarah Olsen resigned from the Department back in July after serving 26 years with the city of Lynnwood.

The Lynnwood City Council was supposed to hold a three-hour Executive Session on March 18 to interview candidates for the open Parks and Recreation Director, as designated in its published agenda, but those interviews never occurred. Neither Sarah Olson nor Joel Faber was ever interviewed for the position.

On Tuesday, March 12, before the interview process was supposed to occur, the city staff was told not to bring any agenda items forward to allow three hours in an Executive Session for interviewing. That Thursday, Council President George Hurst and Mayor Frizzell reviewed the agenda for Friday’s meeting. Council President Hurst noted that the normal process for interviewing candidates typically involves council receiving a binder which includes the applications of the three candidates—so that council members can formulate questions to be reviewed by Human Resources—but council members did not receive any binder. Council President Hurst was told by the Mayor’s Office that the binders would be coming; but they never did, he said.

On Monday, March 18, Mayor Frizzell sent out an email stating some “issues have come up with the Executive Session” and called for a Council Leadership meeting at 5:30 p.m. At that meeting, the mayor said she decided not to move forward with candidate Olson and that she has appointed Faber as Interim. This was 30 minutes before the council meeting was scheduled to begin.

When council asked why this decision was brought up, 30-minute before the meeting, the Mayor replied that she had made this decision a week ago but didn’t want to put a damper on Sordel’s retirement week, Council President Hurst informed the Lynnwood Times.

Hurst also informed the Lynnwood Times that Sordel’s succession plan was never shared with council despite repeatedly requesting to see it. The mayor has said that the matter is HR-related and doesn’t involve the council, Hurst said.

The Lynnwood Municipal Code states: “at the conclusion of the initial administrative interview process, the mayor shall refer to the council at least three candidates for a city council confirmation process.” Mayor Frizzell informed the Lynnwood Times that following a public recruitment effort it was determined that there were not three qualified candidates to move forward for consideration, so she elected to name an Interim Director to shepherd the department through the upcoming busy season instead.

However, there were indeed three qualified candidates for consideration as Director or Lynnwood Parks & Recreation: Olson, Faber, as well as an applicant from out-of-state.

During a Business Meeting on March 25, Lynnwood City Council President Hurst, along with Council Vice President Altamirano-Crosby and Councilman Patrick Decker, agreed to considering a revision to Chapter 2.06 of the Lynnwood Municipal Code that governs the city council confirmation process for appointed officials and employees. On June 10, the city council approved Ordinance 3461 specifying the confirmation process for interim appointments amongst other positions.

Author: Kienan Briscoe