After 26 years of working in different government jobs, Eugene City Manager Jim Johnson is ready to try something new.
Johnson, city manager since 1998, announced his resignation at a press conference Friday at City Hall. His announcement comes within days of a similar announcement by Eugene Police Chief Jim Hill. Johnson will continue serving Eugene until the end of February.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to work in this job,” Johnson said. “If I’ve had any success at all (it’s because) I’ve worked with some awfully good people.”
Elected officials praised Johnson’s work, ethics and integrity.
“He keeps employee morale very high,” City Councilor Scott Meisner said. “I trust him implicitly.”
Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey also spoke highly of the manager.
“You can talk to him about issues,” Torrey said. “Once he makes a commitment, he lives by it.”
Johnson said that he’s been thinking about resigning for some time and feels this is the best point in his life to do it.
“It’s a time in my life rather than a time in the job,” he said.
Johnson has recommended that Torrey appoint Jim Carlson as interim city manager until the City Council can hire a new manager. He further suggested that the current City Council wait until 2003 to appoint a new manager, as four seats will be up for re-election next year.
Meisner said that there’s a certain advantage to having a new council hire the city manager. He added that if he were a candidate for city manager, “I’d want to be hired by a council that would be there for a while.”
Torrey agreed that waiting to select a new manager would result in a better choice.
“I do not want the council to rush out and select a new city manager,” Torrey said.
While Friday’s press conference focused on Johnson, he used most of his time to talk about his employees. Working with teams, carrying out group projects and encouraging staff to leave a legacy were all focuses of Johnson’s announcement. He also repeatedly acknowledged the importance of city staff in general.
“The average person out there in the community,” Johnson said, “probably doesn’t understand the quality of city employees.”