Amity City Administrator resigns
AMITY - City Administrator Justin Hogue has resigned, effective Friday, Nov. 23. He said he has accepted a position with Yamhill County as the Business Services Director.
Yamhill County Commissioners last May offered Ken Huffer the job as the county’s next administrator, following the end-of-year retirement of current Administrator Laura Tschabold.
Huffer is the current Deputy County Administrator. Hogue said the county is re-titling that position to Business Services Director because it more accurately describes the duties of the position.
"I deeply appreciate the city council affording me the opportunity to serve the City of Amity and its residents," Hogue said. "It has been a sincere honor to have been entrusted with caring for and leading this wonderful city for nearly two years now.
"It is not easy to leave the people that I have had the privilege to work with during my time here. I have enjoyed a very supportive council and competent, effective staff that has allowed me to do my job well while serving as the administrator."
Hogue commended the staff for its dedication and hard work, and the council for their efforts to improve the city and for volunteering their time in serving the public.
"Their proven leadership leaves me without doubt that Amity will continue to improve and thrive as it is in good hands," Hogue said.
The city council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, to discuss the recruitment of both the administrator's position and police chief. Chris Bolek is retiring at the end of the year.
Hogue, a McMinnville resident, was named the Amity City Administrator in December 2016 and started work in early January the following year.
He was the assistant city manager in the Marion County community of Mount Angel prior to taking the Amity position.
Hogue replaced Larry Layton who retired. There were four finalists to replace him. In addition to Hogue, they were Amity Mayor Michael Cape, Gold Hill resident Rick Hohnbaum and Amity City Councilor Joshua Simonson.
The outgoing Amity City Administrator was born in the Puget Sound community of Bremerton and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area community of Castro Valley.
When he decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at California Baptist University in Riverside, he was working in a non-sworn position with the the Alameda Police Department, and had his sights set on a sworn officer position.
However, he eventually chose a career in public administration.
Returning to the Bay Area, he landed a job running an after-school program at an elementary school. On the side, he worked toward a master’s degree in public administration at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, graduating in 2011.
When he settled in Oregon, He served internships with the Oregon State Senate and city of Dayton, where he wrote grant applications for the city, including one that helped fund park development near the high school.
In Mount Angel, he originally oversaw community development, functioned as the city planner, city recorder and our public information officer, and served as the grant writer.
Later, he said, he also managed the city payroll, oversaw the city staff and handled city finances.
He said he was a finalist for the top job in 2016, but the position went to Amber Mathiesen, who had more managerial experience.
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