By Pepper Fisher
SEQUIM – A grassroots effort to stop the firing of Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush continues to gain a lot of support, with nearly 1000 signatures collected on an online petition in a matter of a few days.
Now the group that started it all, the Sequim Good Governance League, has announced a rally to show their support for retaining Manager Bush on Monday, January 25th starting at 4:00.
At their regular meeting on January 11, City Councilmembers discussed the issue during an 80-minute executive session before voting 4-2 to ask Bush for his resignation. It was the first the public had been told that the issue was being considered, and no reason was given for the move.
Voting against removing Bush were Councilmen Brandon Janisse and Tom Ferrell. Ferrell says he thinks Bush has done an excellent job as City Manager.
“Sure. I mean, I’ve had a lot of executive experience and, to me, Charlie is a perfect executive for what we’re experiencing right now. He’s been on top of things relative to covid and other City issues for quite a while and, quite frankly, he and I consult each other a lot. Bounce things off each other. And he’s willing to listen. He’s a good leader. He’s very consistent. I’ve just been around a long time. That’s kind of person I’d hired to run my company.”
We asked Mayor William Armacost last week why he wanted to see Bush go, but were told only that there were no complaints of illegality on the part of Bush, and that he was brought back after a brief resignation last year only to help with the pandemic situation, which Armacost feels is now getting under control with the help of the vaccine.
For more information about the January 25th rally, go to https://tinyurl.com/jec9lzer; To sign the petition “Sequim City Council Retain Charlie Bush!” petition, go to: https://tinyurl.com/2njc78ga