Meeting Minutes WASHINGTON FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091

MEETING November 2, 1998 Best Western Airport Executel 20717 International Boulevard SeaTac, Washington ATTENDANCE: Commission Department Lisa Pelly, Chair Tim Waters Kelly White, Vice Chairman* Bill Frymire Russ Cahill Other Department Staff John McGlenn Don Heinicke Public John McGlenn Hal Spencer, Associated Press Pat McMullen Diane Nelson Will Roehl Peter Eichstedt, The Olympian Bob Tuck Rob Taylor, Post Intelligencer Commission Staff Debbie Nelson * Commissioner White participated in the meeting via telephone conference call. Chair Pelly called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. DIRECTOR POSITION SELECTION: The Commission had a final discussion of candidates for the position of Director for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Commissioner Roehl, Chair of the Director Search Committee, briefly reviewed the process used in the selection of a permanent Director. The attributes the Commission wanted in a Director include, but are not limited to, the following: honesty and integrity strong management skills strong commitment to natural resources and natural resource stewardship ability to work well with our constituency groups on a fair and open basis ability to work well with the Commission, the Governor's Office, and legislators. The Commission spent a considerable amount of time in the preparation of the job announcement and information related to the position. All Commissioners took an active part in contacting individuals and groups either for the purpose of soliciting suggested applicants' names or to urge specific individuals to apply. That process resulted in an excellent applicant pool of approximately 33 people. A subcommittee of Commissioners acted in an advisory capacity to the full Commission, evaluated all of the applicants, and recommended a considerably smaller list to the full Commission. The full Commission then decided upon a group of 12 applicants which were interviewed over a two-day period. The Commission then narrowed the group and conducted a second round of interviews of four applicants. Commissioner Roehl explained the difficulty the Commission was having with trying to maintain a balance between the Open Public Meetings Act and respecting confidentiality of applicants. The Commission must make its decisions in the most public process possible. On the other hand, applicants have a right to confidentiality. For this reason, during this meeting the Commission will refer to the candidates as Candidate A, Candidate B, Candidate C, and Candidate D, and will make the decision to offer the position to one of the candidates. As soon as the terms of employment have been agreed upon and accepted, the name of the Director will be made public. Commissioner McGlenn felt the process resulted in four very qualified candidates. Commissioner Cahill summarized the attributes of each candidate: Candidate A: Good legislative skills Used clever management techniques to build a small, underfunded agency into a much stronger one Systematic manager; knows how to put pieces of the puzzle together to move a program forward Community oriented Good people skills Strong and experienced in dealing with a commission Candidate B: Loyal to employer Adaptive manager Experience in finding solutions to large problems Strong, common sense-oriented management style Broad experience in natural resources issues, in addition to fish and wildlife Said: "You have to connect vision for an agency with follow-through; vision is not an end in itself" Asked if employees shared the vision of the agency Patience to see a fairly complicated process through and develop reasonable expectations Candidate C: Most experienced of the candidates Good knowledge of both Washington state and local governments, and national legislative processes Recognized his weaknesses and talked about hiring to strengthen those weaknesses Great enthusiasm; ready to go to work on problems Strong people skills Ability to deal with employees and the public Valuable bureaucratic skills Stressed recognizing the value of the customer and stakeholder Candidate D: Different level of experience than the other candidates Strong knowledge about the Governor's Salmon Recovery Strategy and the Department's Wild Salmonid Policy Good knowledge of Puget Sound stream and water issues, particularly as it relates to the salmon recovery process Best strategic thinker of the candidates and knows how to devise working systems to get to a strategy Team builder Strong network of contacts and ability to work with people in the population centers of the state Interested in quality outcomes; getting a job done so it comes out excellent rather than just being finished Recognized a realistic time frame for successfully budgeting the Department. Chair Pelly felt that all twelve candidates that were interviewed had a good sense of humor and truly cared about the natural resources. Commissioner Heinicke was impressed with Candidate A's positive attitude and enthusiasm. He liked Candidate B's emphasis on proactive reaction and response to situations before they became controversial; Candidate B had the best answers concerning how to handle population growth and the wildlife resources. He felt Candidate C could recognize and find solutions to problems early on and was well organized. Commissioner Tuck agreed that each of the four candidates has different skills and backgrounds. He felt that Candidate B's vision for the future would be helpful in addressing the current resource issues. Commissioner McGlenn moved, seconded by Commissioner McMullen, to instruct Commissioner Roehl to offer the Director position to Candidate B, with the following terms: salary of $96,468 annually, exempt position, starting no later than January 10,1999 unless other arrangements are made. Commissioner McMullen explained that thorough background checks were done on the candidates. Comments received about Candidate B were extraordinary. Candidate B's responses during the interview process showed great concern for employees and made it clear he would absolutely not tolerate any discrimination in his agency or how his agency treated people. Commissioner McGlenn felt that Candidate B came across as a mild mannered person but is very strong willed. Candidate B made it clear that he would have no problem letting the Commission know if it stepped into his turf. Commissioner White also expressed his support for Candidate B. Chair Pelly stated that Candidate B talked about delivering good service to the public and encouraging the public to become involved. He also talked about ecosystem management and taking care of all species together. The motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Roehl will develop a plan for introducing the new Director to Department employees, Governor's Office, legislators, tribes, and constituents. Commissioner Cahill moved, seconded by Commissioner McGlenn, to authorize Commissioner Roehl to offer reimbursement of reasonable moving expenses in accordance with Department of General Administration's guidelines. The motion carried unanimously. Chair Pelly adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m. dpn MEMOS AND AUTHORITIES FROM THE NOVEMBER 2, 1998 FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION MEETING, SEATAC Selection of Director Motion by McGlenn, second by McMullen, to instruct Commissioner Roehl to offer the Director position to Candidate B, with the following terms: salary of $96,468 annually, exempt position, starting no later than January 10,1999 unless other arrangements are made. The motion carried unanimously. Motion by Cahill, second by McGlenn, to authorize Commissioner Roehl to offer reimbursement of reasonable moving expenses in accordance with Department of General Administration's guidelines. The motion carried unanimously. Commissioners in Attendance: Lisa Pelly, Chair Kelly White, Vice Chairman* Russ Cahill Don Heinicke John McGlenn Pat McMullen Will Roehl Bob Tuck * Commissioner White participated in the meeting via telephone conference call

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