TS Talent Solutions partnered with the Washington City/County Management Association (WCMA) to complete the 2024 Census of the Profession for the State of Washington. This comprehensive study honed in on the City Administrator/Manager role in the state, offering valuable insights into the challenges and evolving trends within the profession.
In February 2024, WCMA released a survey targeting senior executives across municipalities in Washington, achieving a response rate of 64% with 181 out of 281 cities participating. The project was led by Tripepi Smith Senior Business Analyst Sydni Overly with support from Business Analyst Kylie Sun and Junior Business Analyst Ethan de La Peña.
Combining survey responses with previous statistics and information, Creative Director Kevin Bostwick and Junior Graphic Designer Jenna Haubruge created eye-catching graphs that showcased the findings in a digestible manner. To provide greater insights, the project team ran cross tabulations to analyze the relationship and commonality between some categories, such as position and age, position and gender, educational achievement and population size, pressing issues and geographical location and more.
“The 2024 Census of the Profession in Washington serves as the first comprehensive benchmark for understanding the demographics and experiences of the most senior local government officials across the state,” said Sydni. “We combined statistical data with interactive graphic elements to showcase our research findings and provide insights on trends within the profession and across Washington municipalities. Ideally, we’d like to continue this research to provide a longitudinal analysis that better showcases trends and changes over time.”
WCMA President Stephanie Lucash and Tripepi Smith President Ryder Todd Smith presented these findings at the WCMA 2024 Summer Conference in Wenatchee, Washington.
“It’s important to know where we’ve been to help guide us toward a better future. This report is an incredible resource, and it highlights common issues and barriers municipalities are facing, reinforcing the need for collaboration,” said Stephanie. “I would like to thank everyone who participated in this survey, as it will help us frame future WCMA programs and priorities. This extensive study wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of Tripepi Smith Talent Solutions, and we appreciate their partnership!”
About the Washington City/County Management Association (WCMA)
The Washington City/County Management Association (WCMA) aims to enhance the knowledge, skills, quality, and professionalism of local government management. The association achieves this by offering education, information, and support services to its members and their agencies. Its membership comprises managers, administrators, and assistants from municipalities, counties, and other similar government entities.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a California-based marketing, technology and public affairs firm that serves for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage to agencies seeking to leverage the internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, aerial imagery, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Duarte, City of Grover Beach, City of Santa Paula, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lake Forest, City of Livermore, City of Napa, City of Paramount, City of Tracy, CalChoice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Rowland Water District, California City Management Foundation, Renne Public Law Group, West Coast Arborists, Scripps College, Blind Children’s Learning Center and Climatec.
