On January 25, 2021, the City Council voted four to two to accept the resignation agreement of City Manager Charlie Bush that was negotiated between Bush and the City Council over the last week. Bush’s last day of employment with the City will be Monday, February 15. He will be succeeded by Assistant City Manager Charisse Deschenes, who will serve as Acting City Manager while a search is conducted for his replacement.
Bush has served as Sequim City Manager since 2015. He resigned once before at the beginning of 2020 to explore other opportunities but agreed to return once the COVID-19 pandemic struck to guide the City through a very difficult time. The residents, employees, and elected officials of Sequim are united in their appreciation of Charlie’s leadership, professionalism, and ability, as demonstrated throughout his tenure at the City.
“The opportunity to serve Sequim as City Manager was one of the highlights of my career to date. I am grateful to the City Council for the opportunity to work here over the past 5.5 years, to our staff for their steadfast dedication to excellence, and to our community for their love of Sequim. I wish everyone well,” said Charlie Bush.
“As you all know, these last few weeks have been difficult. Due to philosophical differences between Charlie and certain members of the City Council on some issues facing the City, we had decided that it would be in everyone’s best interest to part ways. Charlie appreciates the support shown for him by the community and the employees. The City Council appreciates how professionally Charlie and the employees have handled the transition,” said Mayor William Armacost.
“Speaking for myself, I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with Charlie Bush during my time on City Council. I personally want to thank Charlie for rescinding his resignation when we were hit with the COVID-19 Pandemic. We will always be grateful in our time of need and his service to the Council and the community. I’d like to wish Charlie abundance of peace and good health.”