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Following the retirement of longtime Centralia City Manager Rob Hill earlier in May, the Centralia City Council began working with Prothman consultants to recruit possible candidates for the vacant position. On Wednesday, Oct. 30, the Centralia City Council will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.
m. to consider formally approving an employment agreement with Michael Thomas to be Centralia’s new city manager, according to a news release from the city. Thomas was one of three finalists for the position announced earlier this month.
Prior to coming to Centralia, he served as city administrator for Amity, Oregon, from 2019 to 2023. Before that, Thomas was an officer in the U.S.
Air Force, where he retired as a lieutenant colonel after a 20-year career that included being a squadron commander and master combat systems operator. Thomas has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oregon, a master’s degree in business administration from Trident University International, a master’s degree in military operational art and science from Air University and a bachelor’s degree in management from the U.S.
Air Force Academy. As the new Centralia city manager, Thomas would start with an annual salary of $170,376, which could increase to $175,487 starting on Jan. 1, 2025, according to the release.
His official employment contract would begin on Dec. 1, 2024. Following Hill’s retirement in May, Centralia Deputy City Manager and Parks Director Amy Buckler has served as the city’s interim city manager.
In July, three candidates were selected as finalists from those who originally applied for the job after Hill retired. Those three finalists, Robert Harrison, Chandra Wax and Jennifer Wills, attended a reception with the public along with interviews with the Centralia City Council last month. After the interviews, the council ultimately decided none of the finalists were right for the job, according to a news release from the city.
Along with Thomas, the council earlier this month interviewed Roxanne Miles, who has been serving as Pierce County’s parks and recreation director since 2017, and Robert Maul, who has been serving as the City of Camas planning manager since 2014..
