MUKILTEO, Wash., July 22, 2022 – This week, City Hall welcomes two new faces, executive assistants Nick Nehring and Leslie Lavoie. Current Executive Assistant Lindsey Arrington, whose last day is Friday, July 22, is leaving to spend more time with her three children.
Nehring completed his bachelor’s degree from Grand Canyon University’s Colangelo College of Business in 2019 and was a Legislative Aide with the Washington State House of Representatives for almost two years prior to his new role as Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine’s Executive Assistant.
“Mukilteo is a great community with a lot of great opportunity where I feel my skills will be of value,” Nehring told the Lynnwood Times. “What makes Mukilteo great are outdoor spaces for activities and the waterfront.”
Nehring applied for the position in May and started with the City on July 18. He is a Mariners fan, enjoys hiking and the outdoors.
“Lindsey has been phenomenal,” Nehring said. “She has been training us and provided her contact information so we may reach out to her in the future.”
Lindsey Arrington, who has been fulfilling the role of Executive Assistant since May of 2020, is truly proud of the value she brought to the City.
“This has been a really cool opportunity to have been able to bring my experience and skill set into a government setting and being able to intersect my passion for serving the community and my professional background,” Arrington told the Lynnwood Times.
For going on nine years, Arrington has been the President and Founder of Hope Soldiers, a non-profit helping people find freedom from addiction and mental health struggles. She leveraged her partnerships with local government leaders, the Sheriff’s Office, the judicial system, and a corporate career background to help both mayors Jennifer Gregerson and Joe Marine navigate to deliver the best results for the residents of Mukilteo.
One interesting and admirable fact about Arrington is her contribution to society. She has personally helped up to 100 people get into detox and seek treatment for substance abuse and indirectly inspired thousands to seek the road of recovery by being featured in an MTV documentary, “Prescription for Change: Ending America’s Opioid Crisis,” starring Macklemore and President Barack Obama.
Arrington shared that understanding the communication style of a mayor is key to being successful as an Executive Assistant.
When pressed to give the inside scoop on working for two mayors, she shared, “Jennifer’s communication style, she could do face to face, but she worked a lot on her computer and so e-mail and text was really effective for her and so it helped her track her action items to have everything on her computer. Mayor Marine, on the other hand, really wants everything face to face or verbal over the phone, and that’s how he communicates. They’re both different, but they’re both effective in their own ways.”
For all of this week, Arrington has been training Nehring and Lavoie in their new roles with the City. To her successors, she advices them on developing relationships with the staff and look for ways to partner with City Council.
“Be a person that everybody can call on for help,” Arrington said.
She is leaving for a hybrid working model to spend more time with her family.
“My work life balance and my family are my top priority and I want to be in a role that values my skill set but also values my priority, being my family,” she said.
Leslie Lavoie, Mukilteo’s new Executive Assistant for City Administrator Steve Powell, comes with 16-years of experience working for Mountlake Terrace. There she was Deputy Clerk and an Executive Assistant. She also has a background in real estate and enjoys bike riding and creating artwork.
She has been learning who does what in the city, reviewing what needs to be updated on the website and learning new terminologies.
“Coming from a City Manager to a Mayoral form of government, who would think there are new terms for everything,” Lavoie said.
At its May 16 Regular Meeting, the Mukilteo City Council unanimously approved an Executive Assistant position for City Administrator Powell. The motion to approve the position was made by Councilman Jason Moon and seconded by Councilman Tom Jordal.
Mayor Marine shared that he truly appreciated working with Arrington over the last six months and is looking forward to working with both Nehring and Lavoie.
“I am looking forward to working with both Nick and Leslie and I’m very excited that that Steve Powers is going to have some help,” Mayor Marine told the Lynnwood Times. “As far as Lindsey I understand the opportunities to move forward and just very excited about her future and I really enjoyed the last six months working with her in the City.”
Author: Mario Lotmore
