String of short-term mayors fuels pitch to restructure Camas government

Churning through mayors has been common practice in Camas, Washington.

Before the current mayor, Steve Hogan, was elected in 2023, the office had a revolving door of three mayors in three years.

Now Hogan, too, is ready to call it quits after his first term ends. City leaders point to this pattern of turnover as evidence of a foundational problem impacting how local government operates in a growing Southwest Washington community.

“We are one election away from chaos, always,” City Councilor John Nohr said Monday at a city council meeting.

Nohr is among a majority of the council who want Camas voters to fundamentally change how the city delegates authority for day-to-day decision-making.

The council voted Monday to have the city attorney draft a resolution asking voters to shift power away from an elected mayor — who works with an administrator of their choosing — to a professional city manager who would be hired and fired by the city council.

Backers of this idea say they want a more professionalized, consistently run city administration for Camas as it — like some other Clark County communities — reckons with population growth and more demand for city services like utilities, development permits and street maintenance. The city’s population is expected to grow by nearly 40% over the next two decades.

The idea of changing Camas’ form of government has been floated, and failed to gain traction, before. The council first considered it in 2002 and again in 2018. On Monday, the proposal was again met with pushback from residents who fear unelected leadership would cost accountability.

“This is a relinquishing of power,” said Camas resident Steve Grundy. “It’s a handing over of power from…elected officials to hired officials. That makes no sense to me.”

The council’s decision to move forward with a resolution comes after an advisory group convened by Mayor Hogan recommended the form of government change earlier this year. Hogan said he doesn’t plan to run for reelection next year.

“I will happily retire from the job,” he said during the Monday meeting.

Before it goes to voters, the council still needs to approve the resolution the city attorney drafts. That vote would likely happen at its Sept. 21 meeting, City Attorney Shawn MacPherson said. If it’s approved, that would trigger a special election in February. It’s too late for the council to include a ballot measure in this year’s general election.

Under Camas’ current mayor-council system, voters elect a mayor who operates what is effectively the city’s executive branch, while council members vote to develop policy. The mayor is responsible for carrying out those policies, but doesn’t vote except to break a tie on the council.

Like many other mayor-council cities, Camas has a hybrid system that includes a city administrator, appointed by the mayor, who oversees the day-to-day operations of city government.

Mayor-council is the oldest and most common form of government in Washington. As of 2025, about 80% of cities in the state operated that way. But a majority of cities in Clark County — Vancouver, Battle Ground, Ridgefield and Washougal — already use a council-manager system.

In that system, the city manager is appointed by and accountable to the entire council rather than just the mayor.

“ The council as a whole plays a stronger role when there’s a council-manager form of government than it does when there’s a mayor-council form of government,” said Andrew Neiditz, a senior advisor at the Washington City/County Management Association.

Neiditz has worked both as a city administrator in a mayor-council system and a city manager in a council-manager system.

“ The whole reason behind the city manager reform movement,” Neiditz said, “was to have a more professional and less political system of government.”

Camas would still have a mayor if voters ultimately adopt a council-manager system. But instead of serving as the city’s CEO, they would be a regular member of the council and represent the city in more of a ceremonial capacity.

Monday’s vote marks the third attempt in 25 years to change Camas’ form of government, but the first time voters will directly weigh in.

“I feel really passionate about enabling people to vote for things, even when I disagree with them,” said Camas resident Lee Dunham during an Aug. 11 town hall discussing the proposal. “I’m gonna be honest, I haven’t formed my opinion yet on what form of government I think we should have.”

The main question for Camas residents like Dunham to consider, if the resolution ultimately makes its way onto the ballot, is: do they want their city’s top administrator to be accountable to and chosen by their mayor, or the city council as a whole?

“There is no right or wrong way of government,” Neiditz said. “It depends on what the community wants, and, in my opinion, the success of it depends on the players.”