NorthCoastOregon.com

Local News

Clatsop County Manager Scott Derickson Headed To Woodburn

Clatsop County Manager Scott Derickson announced today he intends to
accept the position of city administrator for the city of Woodburn.
Derickson said his formal resignation as county manager will come as
early as this week.

After serving more than four and a half years as the county’s top
administrator, Derickson said he’s excited about the opportunities and
challenges awaiting him in the diverse, fast-growing city of 25,000
north of Salem.

“The Woodburn job is an opportunity to return to city government,”
he said. “At the same time I’ll be saddened to leave the friends
I’ve made and colleagues I’ve worked with here in Clatsop County.
It’s been a privilege and an honor to work with so many talented and
dedicated people.”

Derickson was hired by Clatsop County in October 2003 from the city of
Warrenton after a wide-ranging search that attracted almost 60
applicants. As county manager he’s overseen an organization with
almost 240 employees and a current annual budget of almost $56.5
million.

While his contract with Clatsop County calls for a 90-day separation
period, Derickson said he will ask the board of commissioners to waive
the requirement so he’s able to step down from his county position
earlier than that clause would allow.

Commission Chairperson Patricia Roberts praised Derickson for his
professional approach to the job.

“Scott has provided steady leadership for the county and the board of
commissioners. We’ve been able to accomplish a long list of our goals
thanks to his efforts,” she said.

Derickson said he will recommend to the board that Roberts and another
commissioner join him to put together a plan for finding his
replacement.

A fourth-generation Oregonian, Derickson attended the University of
Oregon where he earned a bachelors degree in Planning, Public Policy and
Management and a masters degree in public administration. After
internships in Eugene and Veneta he became a senior management analyst
for the Umpqua Regional Council of governments in Douglas County.

In 2000 he was hired as city manager of Warrenton, where he helped
oversee the funding of a new water system and guided the city’s
Community Visioning Project, which was nominated for a League of Oregon
Cities Good Governance Award in 2002.

Among the accomplishments the county saw during his tenure, Derickson
pointed to the opening of the Community Corrections Transition Center in
Warrenton; the sale of the county’s Delaura Beach property to the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department; the sale of commercial property
at the North Coast Business Park; and the approval of tax breaks for
Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill’s Number 7 paper machine under the Oregon
Strategic Investment program.

Other projects included the remodeling of the county courthouse, Judge
Guy Boyington Building and 800 Exchange St. county services building.
County officials also combined the Community Development and Public
Works Department into the new Transportation and Development Services
Department to provide more efficient service to the public.

Clatsop County also adopted a Long Range Financial Plan designed to
help guide spending and budget-making decisions to ensure the county’s
long-term financial viability. The plan called for increasing cash
reserves, updating fees and implementing performance measures for all
county departments.

“With limits on property taxes and fluctuations in revenue from the
Clatsop State Forest, it was vital that the county put in place a
strategy to make sure it can maintain stable funding for all its
services,” Derickson said.

More recently the county was faced with the lengthy and contentious
Bradwood Landing LNG zoning issue, which involved numerous public
hearings in front of the county planning commission and board of
commissioners and generated thousands of pages of data and comments.
While federal law limits local jurisdictions’ role in siting liquefied
natural gas facilities, county officials worked hard to make sure that
the Bradwood developers will take into account local concerns about
safety and environmental issues if and when the project goes forward,
Derickson said.

Derickson said he’s also proud of the role the county played in last
December’s windstorm.

“The storm and the aftermath really showed how dedicated our staff
is,” he said. “County employees from virtually every department
stepped up did their best to help our citizens recover from the that
event, even workers whose own homes were damaged in the storm.”

6 Comments

Submit A Comment

Name (required)

Email (required, but not shown)

URL

Remember my personal information

Please enter the word you see in the image above: