Lincoln County’s first full-time administrator resigns after almost three years in the job

 

• Editor’s note: This story was updated Wednesday, Feb. 12 to include portions of Tim Johnson’s resignation letter to county commissioners. 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

Tim Johnson, who had served as Lincoln County’s first administrator for nearly three years, resigned Friday after apparent dissatisfaction by commissioners with his work.

Johnson was hired as the county’s first administrator in April 2022 after commissioners decided they needed someone to focus solely on directing department heads and overseeing its budget. For decades the duties had been handled in part by the county’s lead attorney and commissioners, who split up department oversight.

While issues with Johnson’s tenure had been percolating since September and surfaced again last week, on Monday the county announced Johnson’s departure last Friday in a four paragraph news release.

“In his time with Lincoln County, administrator Johnson has implemented important initiatives,” commission chair Claire Hall said in a prepared statement. “These include innovations to the budgeting process, review of the county’s finances, exciting branding campaigns, and real progress on several major capital projects, among them the construction of the new Lincoln County animal shelter, beginning the redevelopment of the Lincoln County Commons, and the establishment of the Community Shelter and Resource Center.”

In a budget update in January, Johnson announced the county had a surplus in its 2024-25 budget of up to $5 million, that he had hired a new finance director after months of searching, and that the planning department was finally back to pre-pandemic staffing levels.

But Johnson never had an employment contract with the county, which is standard for municipal administrators, and often told people that he or the county could simply agree to part ways at any moment if one of them became dissatisfied. Such executive contracts usually specify regular evaluations and pay increases – and offer protections for both the government or the executive should they decide to part ways.

Johnson was being paid $207,000 a year. His resignation agreement called for the county to pay him two months salary and benefits in addition to cashing out his accrued paid time off.

After being on the job for 2½ years, commissioners did not try to conduct a performance evaluation until last fall. The three – Hall, Kaety Jacobson and Casey Miller – each did an evaluation but Johnson apparently balked at meeting with commissioners to discuss them.

Johnson’s departure was hinted at in September during a controversial report from Miller, who was later found to have violated the county’s personnel rules by disclosing confidential information.

Commissioners finally scheduled an executive (closed) session Dec. 6 to evaluate Johnson, but he left the courthouse before the meeting and county counsel Kristin Yuille advised to not hold the review without him. It was never re-scheduled.

A change was also signaled last week when commissioners put rules in place to allow Hall to designate people to perform the administrator’s duties if there was a vacancy in the position. County public information officer Kenneth Lipp said Monday that those duties had not yet been divvied up.

Johnson’s departure adds to uncertainty in the commissioners’ offices. Miller is still working from home under a request by the human relations director until he can meet with a mediator to talk about confidential information. Jacobson is quitting Friday with two years left on her second term and Hall and Miller will interview four finalists Wednesday to replace her in a process that has also drawn questions and criticism.

Johnson started with the county in April 2022 after a 10-month search, coming to Newport from Federal Way, Wash. where he had been its economic development officer for eight years. Prior to that he was an economic development official for the city of Sacramento, for a two-county California economic development district, and worked as an assistant city manager in San Diego.

The three-member board of commissioners oversees a county with a general budget of $184 million and 500 employees. Five others – the sheriff, district attorney, clerk, surveyor, assessor and treasurer – are elected to run specific departments but rely on commissioners for their budgets.

Johnson’s resignation statement

In his two-page resignation letter released to YachatsNews, Johnson cited administrative accomplishments including formation of a countywide homeless advisory board and setting up two winter shelters, acquiring and dispersing $10 million in federal pandemic relief funds, partnering with Samaritan Health Services on its new addiction treatment facility and Oregon Coast Community College on its daycare initiatives, upgrading the county’s website, implementing a successful abandoned RV abatement program, creating a new model for the medical examiner’s office, and finding ways to keep the county fair operating while the fairgrounds are being redeveloped.

“However, during the last five months, while working to ensure the fiscal health of the organization, I have contemplated concluding my career with the county,” Johnson said in his statement. “Being a county administrator is not an easy job. Public sector management requires another set of knowledge and energy needed to ensure its diverse operations. As the first county administrator in the 132-year history of the county, it has been a demanding effort to initiate this form of government while simultaneously implementing moving priorities and achieving customer satisfaction valued by county residents while managing a multi-million-dollar organization.

“In some ways, I have been inhibited in applying the wisdom of some 40 plus years of government experience and knowledge towards success,” Johnson wrote. “I hope that the new commission will identify and adopt a vision and goals for the county, formulate a legislative agenda both at the state and federal levels, provide direction on the budget such as incorporation of a performance-based, priority-based and/or zero-based budgeting or a combination thereof.”

Johnson encouraged the commissioners to launch quarterly “All Hands on Deck” employee meetings to keep staff, solidify cooperation with other jurisdictions, including adjacent counties “and finally, treat the employees of the county with honesty, integrity and dignity as public service is the most noble of callings and Lincoln County needs and deserves leaders of character.”

“Lastly, I hope that the new commission will work to ensure an environment for success through continued accountability and transparency,” Johnson wrote. “Speaking as a fourth generation Oregonian, it is not just deserved, it should be a requirement. Because as Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

• Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com