— Journal staff report

The first-year performance of county Manager Mike Thomas has evidently been top-notch.

So much so that the San Juan County Council on March 10 unanimously approved giving the first-year county manager a 7 percent pay raise, three percent of which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The former Enumclaw city administrator was hired a year ago in May and began his tenure at the top of the county administrative department in late June.

The new compensation package totals $134,820 and will become effective June 24, the first anniversary of Thomas’ first day on the job. He was hired a year ago at a salary of $120,000, plus 5 percent in deferred compensation.

Thomas joined the county following a three-year tenure as Enumclaw’s top administrator. He had previously been director of the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development, for five years. A graduate of University of Washington, he has a master’s degree in public administration from Seattle University, and is married, and the father of two children.

The duties of the county manager include assisting the new 3-person county council in overseeing the functions of local government and those departments not managed by another elected county official, such as the sheriff, auditor or prosecuting attorney.

The position was created as part of the restructuring of county government under amendments endorsed by the Charter Review Commission and approved by voters in November 2012. Those amendments reduced the county council from six part-time legislators to three full-time elected positions with both legislative and executive duties, and eliminated the position of county administrator, formerly held by Bob Jean and Pete Rose.

Meanwhile, the council on April 15 recognized Health and Community Services Director John Manning on his retirement on April 25, after 20 years of service within county ranks. An after-work “good-bye party” for Manning is scheduled on Thursday, April 24, at the Grange.