At its June 28 meeting, the Mill Creek City Council agreed to make a conditional offer to Martin Yamamoto for the City Manager position. The Council voted 5 to 1 to have City Attorney Grant Degginger negotiate an employment agreement with Mr. Yamamoto for consideration at a future City Council meeting.
“I am excited to have Martin Yamamoto serve as Mill Creek’s next City Manager,” said Mayor Brian Holtzclaw. “Martin has been instrumental in ‘steadying the ship’ over the last seven months following the resignation of our prior City Manager. However, in the process, Martin has also demonstrated he is qualified and capable of leading the City forward as the permanent City Manager. I look forward to finalizing his contract and then working with Martin, his leadership team, and the entire City staff to implement the goals and priorities set by Council at our strategic planning retreat in March.”
Mr. Yamamoto has been Mill Creek's Deputy City Manager since 2021 and is currently the Interim City Manager. Previously he worked for the City of Seattle for ten years, with the last seven as a fiscal manager. Mr. Yamamoto's approach to management is participative, where collaboration entails bilateral communication among teams and across departments. His most significant achievement has been accomplishing the first phase of Mill Creek's rebuilding process. This effort entailed building an organizational strategy to incorporate the Council's and City's operational priorities. Further, soon after his appointment to Interim City Manager, along with staffing and other plans, another critical decision was appointing Stan White to Acting Chief of Police.
"I am excited to continue working with our City Council and employees as we look forward to improving the quality of life for our residents and our business climate," said Yamamoto. "The City of Mill Creek prides itself on producing a quality level of service, and I am confident that we are positioned to take on the City's key long-term priorities."