Lake Forest Park Names Donald (Pete) Rose As City Administrator

Mayor Mary Jane Goss announced the hiring of Donald (Pete)Rose as the new City Administrator for Lake Forest Park, at a special meeting Monday night.

“We are very pleased to announce Mr. Rose’s selection as the new City Administrator.” said Mayor Mary Jane Goss.   “Mr. Rose is well prepared to lead the City staff in the good work we do for the citizens of Lake Forest Park and the implementation of the City Council goals.”

There were over 50 applicants for the City Administrator position.  The interview process included members of the community and department directors, in addition to the City Council.  Citizens were invited to a Community Open House to meet the finalists for the position on April 16, 2012.

The City Council picked two top candidates out of the five finalists, according to Goss, and she selected Rose for the job.

Pete Rose is currently the County Administrator of San Juan County, Washington, where he has served since July, 2006.  Prior to that position, he was the City Manager for Woodinville for 8 -1/2 years. He has over 30 years of local government experience.  Mr. Rose holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science/Public Service from the University of California, Davis and a Masters degree in Government from California State University.  Mr. Rose will assume the duties of City Administrator on June 11, 2012, and will earn an annual salary of $127,000. 

“Lake Forest Park has set important goals for itself and has great financial challenges to meet them.” said Mr. Rose. “Developing a mixed use sub-area, keeping livable neighborhoods, holding an organization and budget together in a recessionary period and keeping up with an active and engaged citizenry are opportunities for success as well as being challenges.”

“The City Council and I want to express our appreciation to Interim City Administrator Bob Jean and all our department heads and staff during the transition,” added Mayor Goss. “They have all worked hard to make this six-month period without a permanent City Administrator go smoothly.”

Lake Forest Park is a three and half square mile residential community bordered by Seattle to the south, the Snohomish County line to the north, with Lake Washington and Kenmore to the east, and Shoreline to the west.  Less than 4% of the city land is zoned commercial; most of that is in one location, and there are no industrial areas. The City's population grew 210% in the 1990's, largely as a result of annexations.  Today, Lake Forest Park’s population is just over 12,500.

Lake Forest Park utilizes the strong Mayor form of government and provides a wide range of government services.  The Executive Department is led by Mayor Mary Jane Goss, who started her first term as Mayor January 1, 2012. Lake Forest Park is a full service city with eight departments, 54 fulltime employees and a $7.3 million operating budget.

Source: City of Lake Forest Park