Who will be the new Tumwater police chief? It’s not up to the mayor
The Tumwater City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on May 19 that amends city code and takes some unilateral power away from the mayor.
The code amendment has to do with the appointment of the Chief of Police. The update was requested by both Mayor Leatta Dahlhoff and Acting Chief Carlos Quiles.
Administrative Services Director Michelle Sutherland said during the May 19 City Council meeting that the code update promotes increased transparency. The change means that a Chief of Police candidate would need to be confirmed by a majority vote of the City Council, and then they would be appointed by the mayor. Before, the mayor had ultimate hiring authority.
City Administrator Paul Simmons said there are three other positions that require confirmation from the council: city administrator, city attorney and the finance director.
Dahlhoff told The Olympian on May 21 that she plans to appoint Quiles as the permanent chief of police and ask the council to approve his contract sometime in June. Quiles previously served as Deputy Chief until he was tapped to lead the department Jan. 2 after Jay Mason left the role.
According to previous reporting from The Olympian, Mason said he was informed by Dahlhoff that he would no longer be serving in the role, and that the chief of police serves the mayor as an at-will employee, and she has the authority to make such decisions.
“I believe that a new mayor should have the opportunity to build a leadership team that aligns with their vision for the city,” he said.
Dahlhoff later told The Olympian that Mason requested a separation for 2026. She said why he asked for a separation is between him and the Police Guild.
Quiles said during the meeting that he supports the code change because he believes that in order for him to serve in his position, he needs to have the support of the council and the community.
He said the Chief of Police is a highly visible position in the city with a lot of responsibility. He said this change allows everyone to have a say in important decisions, and that he wouldn’t want to be Chief of Police if the community didn’t support him having the title.
“I think everyone should have a voice,” Quiles said. “Their thoughts and ideas should be heard, and I’m 100% in favor of this.”
Dahlhoff said it’s important that while she serves as mayor that the council work together and be aligned on issues. She said she’s about unity, not uniformity.
“We have a lot of things coming our way that are going to be some heavy decisions that council needs to decide, and this is one of the situations where I think it’s imperative that we show that we could disagree, but when it comes to this and what we want and how we’re working together, this is really important to me that council can contribute to this conversation,” Dahlhoff said.
City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick said Tumwater’s form of government is different from either Lacey or Olympia. In both cities, the City Manager is in charge of hiring the Police Chief. Kirkpatrick said there are other organizations across the state that work with the same updated model being used by Tumwater.
Council member Brandon Weedon praised Dahlhoff for giving up some of her power in a time when “anybody that has power seems to be consolidating it.”
“It just speaks to your character that you’re willing to go ahead and listen to everybody on this board, and I’d just like to say that I really appreciate your leadership and your type of mayorship and bringing everybody in instead of building borders to keep people out,” Weedon said.
Council member Peter Agabi raised concerns about the new structure of government being binding for future mayors. He said he thinks the new structure is good for transparency, but that there may be legal ramifications and unintended consequences down the road.
Council member Kelly Von Holtz said she thinks the change is good for transparency, especially at a time when Tumwater “has been a little bit more newsy lately.”
“It could just be the mayor’s call, and the fact that she wants the entire council to be a part of this decision-making, as we are with city administrator and city attorney, it says a lot about the direction that the City is moving,” she said.
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