2025-03-31 Planner position
Date: March 28, 2025
To: Lewis County Board of County Commissioners
From: Mindy Brooks, Director of Community Development
RE: Request to Unfreeze Planner 1 Position
Attachments: A – Community Development 2025 Organizational Chart B – Assistant Planner Job Posting
Staff will provide a presentation at the Wednesday Workshop on April 2, 2025. This read-ahead
provides a summary of the request.
REQUEST Community Development posted the Assistant Planner position, Attachment B, and received 17 qualified applicants; six were chosen for the 2nd round of interviews and all would be a great addition to the Planning Division. We would like to hire the top two applicants. The request is to unfreeze the Planner 1 position, as highlighted in Attachment A, and to fill at the Assistant Planner Step 120, Grade 10. RATIONALE In 2026, Community Development will be budgeting to open the Planner III position to take on additional permitting associated with changes to co-management of the city Urban Growth Areas. The existing Planner II, Preston Pinkston, has expressed interest in the Planner III UGA position and will be training up over the last 6 months of 2025 in anticipation. In 2026 we will
need to fill his open position when he is promoted. We have a unique opportunity to hire two
Planners now.
One of the two applicants is Tara Snelson, a Permit Tech III with 17 years’ experience at
Community Development. We would offer Tara the Planner 1 position, at her current Step 120
and Grade 10. Tara’s existing knowledge of the Lewis County Code means we anticipate
expedited training to the Assistant Planner duties and then job shadowing Preston to learn his
job duties.
2 of 3
BUDGET IMPACTS
The Community Development 2025 Budget does not reflect hiring two Planners. However,
through salary savings, there will be no additional request from the General Fund.
The 2025 Budget includes an Administrative Assistant and Office Assistant both budgeted at 1.0
FTE each. However, we underfilled both positions at 0.6 FTE because of the workload
expectations. The underfilling of these two positions has worked and we will be keeping those
positions at 0.6 FTE in 2026. The result is approximately $41,000 in salary savings for 2025. In
addition, the Vacant Assistant Planner position in recent months has saved approximately
$8,000. Combined, this will cover the additional Planner for the second half of 2025.
Community Development Org Chart - January 1, 2025
Green Denotes Exempt
Employee
Step 133 Grade 3 FT 100%
Step 127 Grade FT 100%Step 127 Grade 1 FT 100%Step 124 Grade 1 FT 100%Step 128 Grade 9 FT 100%
Step 125 Grade FT 100%Step 125 Grade FT 100%Step 121 Grade 6 FT 100%Step 117 Grade 4 FT 100%Step 124 Grade 4 FT 95% Bldg 5% ENF
Step 123 Grade 4 FT 100%Step 119 Grade 10 FT 100%Step 115 Grade 1 FT 100%Step 122 Grade 4 FT 95% Bldg 5% ENF
Step 120 Grade 10 FT 100%Step 119 Grade 4 FT 100%Step 115 Grade FT 100%Step 121 Grade 13 FT 100%
Step 120 Grade FT 100%Step 117 Grade FT 100%Step 121 Grade FT 100%
Step 115 Grade XX Step 119 Grade 1 FT 100%
Step 113 Grade 5 FT 100%Step 119 Grade 1 FT 100%
Chris Collins
Building Inspector I
Katie Johnson
Assistant Permit Tech
Doyle Sanford
Office Manager Building Offical/Firemarshall
Brad Clark Mike Johnston
Permit Tech Lead Plans Examiner
Tara Snelson Jordan Panteleeff
Permit Tech III Building Inspector III
Smokey Padgett
The Comm. Dev Director reorts to:
County Manager Ryan Barrett
Mindy Brooks
Director of Community Development
Permit Center & Administration Building Division
Mollie Hurt
VACANT
Planning Division
Sarah HensleyGuilherme Motta
SR. Long Range Planner
Karen Witherspoon
SR. Project Planner
Planner I Permit Tech III
FROZEN
Assistant Long Range Planner
FROZEN FROZEN
Planner III
Permit Tech I
Building Inspector CE
FROZEN
Neal Bahrt
Permit Tech II
Building Inspector I
FROZEN
FROZEN
Building Inspector II
Preston Pinkston
Assistant Planner
Megan Sathre
Admin Assistant - CD
Kylie Peckham
Office Assistant - CD
FROZEN
Office Assistant - CD
Planner II
Lewis County Employment
Opportunity Department: Community Development | Position: Assistant Planner Who May Apply: Any Qualified Teamsters Combined
Represented Employee Employment Status: Regular Full-Time Salary Range: Grade 120: $4,876–$6,560/mo. (DOQ) Posting Opens: February 7, 2025 Posting Closes: February 14, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.
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DEPARTMENT / OFFICE This is a Teamsters Local No. 252 position located in the Community Development Department.
POSITION SUMMARY Under close supervision, performs a variety of routine planning functions on behalf of the Lewis County Planning Division; provides customer service to the public; conducts planning research; and performs other related duties as assigned. This is the entry level in the Planner job series with emphasis on direct customer contact and response to public inquiries regarding County development regulations.
HOW TO APPLY Application materials and job description are available online at https://jobs.lewiscountywa.gov/ All applications must be completed online using the Lewis County web page.
Lewis County accepts no responsibility for completeness of applications
or loss or damage of data. Application materials received by Lewis
County becomes the property of the County. Lewis County is an equal opportunity employer that provides access, free from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, pregnancy, disability, genetic information or any other basis protected by law in employment or provisions of services
WHO MAY APPLY This recruitment is open to any qualified
current Teamsters Combined represented
employee who meet the minimum qualifications and can perform the essential functions and possesses the knowledge, skills and abilities as identified in the job description.
REQUIREMENTS The following items are REQUIRED for your application to be considered complete and for you to be considered for this recruitment.
Note: ALL sections of the application must
be complete. “See resume” is not
acceptable.
Lewis County Employment
Application
Authorization to Release Information
Cover Letter
Resume
Proof of required certifications
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
• Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Planning, Regional Planning, or a closely related fieldAND six (6) months’ experience as an intern in a community development department;
• Or equivalent experience in urban or regional planning
• A valid Driver’s License is required.
• Proof of eligibility to work in the United States.
• Ability to speak, read, and write the English language effectively.
• Education in lieu of experience will be
considered in accordance with Section 2.1
of the Lewis County Employee Handbook ---------------------------------------------------------------
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