How long can a city run efficiently with temporary leaders?
Sunnyside has been stretched thin, after firing its city manager more than a month ago. And a permanent leader won't be in place until next year.
The city of Sunnyside is looking for some stability. But don't look for that right away.
The same building will house a temporary Finance Director and a temporary City Manager in the coming weeks.
Neither are the permanent hires for a city that still needs a final budget.
One person is coming from the Tri-Cities, the other from Kelso.
Both are new to Sunnyside, and its issues.

And you can't call this a simple desk job. Whoever takes the interim City Manager position will have to work closely with attorneys and city council members to ensure contract negotiations with the police department and fire department runs smoothly.

According to Public Works Director, Jim Bridges, " That really is the biggest issue, is where those personnel issues are going to be. So we've got to get our negotiations started and we've got to get some of those numbers finalized going forward."

Union negotiations can drag out.
And there are a full *six labor contracts under negotiation right now -- including Sunnyside Police.
The budget process starts next week.
A busy time of year for any government, especially one trying to hire major players.
And hiring a permanent City Manager won't happen until after November elections, when there could be a whole new city council.
" We'll be ready to have someone come in. They'll know what they're coming in to instead of bringing them in and having a little different council," says council member, Theresa Hancock.

And ultimately it's the city council that has final say.
After all, it was their decision to fire the manager which started the whole shake up to begin with.
You may recall in that shake-up. The former City Finance Director and City Attorney asked for four-months of severance after quitting, when City Manager, Eric Swansen was fired.
Swansen will get a six month severance package.
But the other two will not because their contracts were not binding.
It turns out the City Manager before Swansen didn't follow the right process to make those contracts legal.
I asked if all contracts will now go through city council.
The Public Works Director told me he wasn't sure.
But he'd look into it, especially since he has one of those same contracts.