Kalispell city manager resigning

Kalispell City Manager Jane Howington said Friday that she will resign at the end of December to take a similar job in Newport, Rhode Island.

In announcing her resignation, Howington said she was proud of the work done by the City Council and city staff to turn around Kalispell's ailing finances.

Under Howington's watch, the city's general fund reserves were built up from a low of about $250,000 in 2009 when she took the job to more than $1 million this July.

"As a team, Howington, along with city council and city staff, began the difficult task of rebuilding the city's fund balances, reconfiguring staffing to provide a sustainable operation in a tumultuous economy, brought closure to all collective bargaining agreements and built a rate program to provide a long-term stability to the city's utilities," said a statement released Friday afternoon by Howington, Mayor Tammi Fisher and council member Kari Gabriel.

Howington became Kalispell's city manager in August 2009 after she was offered a $112,500 salary, a city vehicle for personal use and up to $20,000 for her moving expenses.

She formerly was an assistant city manager in Dayton, Ohio, and previously had worked in administrative roles in Oxford, Ohio, and Acton and Lunenberg, Mass.

"The decision was entirely personal, a family matter," Howington said Friday. "It has nothing to do with the city and we feel sad about leaving."

The job in Newport also would come with a "pretty large" pay increase, Howington said.

News of the resignation first came via the Newport Patch website, which reported Wednesday that the city council there was offering Howington, one of 119 applicants, the city's top position effective Jan. 9, 2012.

The article added that the Newport City Council would vote on Howington's employment at a Dec. 14 meeting.

Word of Howington's resignation still was trickling out to Kalispell officials Friday morning after Howington had circulated an internal email to her staff Thursday saying she would be taking the job in Newport.

The Kalispell City Council already was scheduled to conduct an annual review of Howington's job performance in a closed session Monday.

Fisher said the annual review still will be done as the council starts working out - either in that executive session or during a work session to follow - how to best transition to a new city manager, a process that could take months to complete.

"The council has not met to discuss how we want to move forward. I know I would favor a local and state search along with a national search. In my opinion it takes as long as it takes to find the right person," Fisher said, adding she wasn't too surprised by Howington's resignation.

"I don't think it's ever really a surprise when a city manager chooses to move on. They're not really known for their long tenure wherever they go," Fisher said. "I'm glad she could use her talents here in Kalispell for the past two years."

Gabriel said Howington was "a breath of fresh air" for Kalispell.

"I can say she has been exceptional to work with and has made council's job much simpler and easier just by being such a great city manager. We're going to miss her," Gabriel said.

Council member Tim Kluesner said he hadn't talked to Howington about her decision but would be "very sad to see her go."

"She's done some great things for the city and really turned some things around," Kluesner said.

That sentiment was echoed by Duane Larson, who will leave office at the end of the year after serving 21 years on the council.

"I've been involved with the hiring of every city manager we've had from the beginning, since 1990 I think, and she's the best one we've ever had," Larson said.

"I'm sorry to see her leave because she's done a really good job, but I understand that because of an opportunity she needed to move on."

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.