Chelan Administrator retirement celebration; search continues for successor

Chelan City Administrator Wade Farris. Photo courtesy: All things Lake Chelan.

Services and programs provided by local government workers can often times be taken for granted.

The Chelan community celebrates the close to six years of service given by Chelan City Administrator Wade Farris from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, at Wheatland Bank, 220 E. Johnson Ave. in Chelan. The public is invited.

Farris, who started his work in the city of Chelan in 2020, retires in the next few weeks.

"His leadership has reflected a balance of structure and compassion," said Chelan Mayor McCardle.

The mayor says Farris embodied service to the community above self, having retired from the Air Force as a two-star General.

"I think if you looked up a definition of Wade's career, it is public service," Mayor McCardle added, pointing to the future momentum that Farris has created for the city. "Our infrastructure investments; we have major projects like the east Chelan water reservoir, the Washington Street booster pump station, upgrades to our water and sewer systems. Those are the projects that are the backbone of our city's future safety and accommodating growth. Making sure future development aligns with our community's core values and vision."

At the city finance department, Director Jackie Tupling talked about Wade as a community asset.

"He genuinely cares and listens to constituents when they call in and he goes and reaches out to departments and sees how he can help that individual," said Tupling.

"I think Wade has been very much in tuned with Chelan's growth pressure, said City Community Development Director John Ajax. " We really need to make sure that we're doing that in a balanced way that preserves the character and makes sure growth is organized moving forward."

"It's with the good of our citizens in our thoughts in what we do," pondered Farris as he prepares to retire from city hall and decades of public service. "We've moved the ball forward on a lot of things; one of them is trying to get a water line out to the airport. I think we did a great job of administering the COVID funding we got and using that for the best interest of our citizens."

As he prepares to retire to his Methow Valley home, "Chelan is a great community," Farris exclaimed. "I've appreciated the involvement of our citizens. (The city's) got some very good, giving people that live here and make things happen, and how much the citizens care about each other."

"Wade leaves behind a stronger, more resilient organization; a team that's ready to carry on his legacy," shared Mayor McCardle. "I'm so incredibly grateful for his leadership and for the example that he set for all of us that are staying here in the city of Chelan."

From his home state of Alabama, to the Air Force, employment in the cities of Othello, Gig Harbor and Chelan, a community celebration of Farris’ decades of public service will be held Wednesday afternoon at Wheatland Bank.

The Mayor and city council are currently in the process of naming a successor.