City appoints Scott MacColl as interim city manager

On May 3, Sammamish City Council approved a contract to hire Scott MacColl, the current deputy city manager, as interim city manager. This nine-month agreement gives the city time to look for a permanent city manager.

The move comes after the council ended its contract with former city manager Dave Rudat on March 31.

MacColl has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington. He worked for Washington state’s House of Representatives as a non-partisan research analyst for approximately four years before going into municipal administration.

He has previously worked for Seattle City Council for five years, as well as the City of Shoreline for 10 years. In 2018, he became vice president at the Johnston Group, a commercial real estate development and management firm.

MacColl was hired as deputy city manager for Sammamish in May 2021.

His contract to serve as the interim city manager was unanimously approved by the council.

“I am here to work with our professional staff to support the Council’s agenda,” MacColl wrote in an email to the Sammamish Independent. “I am grateful to the Council for entrusting me with the management of the City during my interim period in charge, and hope that we can work together on behalf of the City to achieve the City’s goals.”

The city is hiring an executive search firm to recruit candidates around the nation for the city manager position. The entire process of recruitment and selection will take an estimated eight to nine months to complete.