Thurston County Commission is confident in its new county manager appointee despite past allegations against him connected to his job in California, Commissioner and Board Chair Tye Menser said.
Leonard Hernandez, the former chief executive officer of San Bernardino County, will start as the new county manager on April 1, the county announced Monday.
"We're confident that we've made a very good decision," Menser said on Tuesday. "He was by far our top candidate and we're very pleased to have been able to hire him to lead Thurston County forward."
The San Bernardino Sun newspaper previously reported Hernandez resigned in August 2023 amid allegations he was having an inappropriate workplace relationship. The Sun also reported he had a difficult management style that drove employees away.
Menser said the board became aware of the allegations against Hernandez during the hiring process. Menser said the board reviewed a litany of allegations in a local blog that went beyond what The Sun reported. He said the board deemed the allegations in the blog unsubstantiated in the course of their background and reference checks.
"Mr. Hernandez was pretty transparent during our process and alerted us that we would see claims that were made," Menser said. "We did a pretty thorough set of reference checks that did not substantiate the claims. ... There was no record of any misconduct."
However, Menser said the board was not aware of The Sun's reporting on the allegations until The Olympian shared them. He said the reporting in The Sun was a surprise, but he did not have additional concerns.
The Olympian has asked Hernandez to comment on his hiring and respond to the allegations in The Sun.
The Olympian has asked the county's four other commissioners to comment on Hernandez's hiring and the allegations against him.
Hernandez negotiated a generous severance package with San Bernardino County in an agreement that protected the county from liability, The Sun reported.
Hernandez appears to be taking a pay cut for his new role. He will start with a $220,000 salary, a $20,000 hiring bonus and $5,000 moving stipend, according to a Thurston County news release.
He earned a base salary of $391,768 when he resigned from San Bernardino County, The Sun reported.
What has Hernandez been accused of?
The Sun reported on Hernandez's hiring in Thurston County Tuesday evening and shared new allegations against him from more than a dozen current and former San Bernardino County employees.
Those employees told The Sun that Hernandez created a culture of bullying and intimidation. They allege Hernandez pushed out experienced employees in favor of those he deemed to be good managers.
Dozens of experienced county employees left under his leadership, many who were department heads and directors, and most were women, according to reporting in The Sun.
In their latest article, The Sun also refers to allegations that Hernandez was having an inappropriate workplace relationship. However, those allegations are characterized as rumors.
Officially, Hernandez resigned from San Bernardino County government in August due to an urgent family health issue.
Members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors reportedly told The Sun they were not aware of problems with Hernandez's management style and they praised his accomplishments.
Notably, The Sun also reported on two high-profile debacles that occurred under Hernandez's leadership of San Bernardino County.
Last year, the county returned $4.4 million in federal funds that were intended to support their local homeless population. Hernandez initially blamed the county's non-profit partners for not spending the funds fast enough, according to reporting in The Sun.
However, local non-profits contested Hernandez's claims. The Sun reported that the county held the money for two years and internal turmoil stymied the county's working relationship with non-profits.
Additionally, The Sun reported the county's winter storm response last February and March was marred by communication and coordination issues.
How did Thurston County vet Hernandez?
Menser said the county's own Human Resources Department led the background and reference checks. He said one of the commissioners also made some phone calls.
"We did a couple rounds of that where we learned what they learned and then made some suggestions for follow-up contact," Menser said. "That all checked out positively."
The commission discussed hiring an outside consultant to lead the hiring process but ultimately chose not to, Menser said.
Everyone the county spoke to who had worked with Hernandez on a day-to-day basis spoke positively about him and said they'd work with him again, Menser said.
"There was contact with human resources, both past and current," Menser said. "There were contacts with law enforcement, contacts with other employees within the county administration who had worked with Mr. Hernandez. So, we felt that we laid those concerns to rest from our perspective."
Hernandez was among five candidates who were picked by the commission among a pool of people who applied by Dec. 15, according to county spokesperson Meghan Porter.
Two panels interviewed the candidates on Jan. 26 and two applicants advanced in the process, Porter said. The board held multiple executive sessions to discuss and evaluate the top candidates.
Porter said the "internal panel" included all five county commissioners, Campbell and Thurston County Human Resources Director Maria Aponte.
The "external panel" reportedly included five people. Three of them work at Thurston County, including Public Works Director Jennifer Walker, Treasurer Jeff Gadman and Racial Equity Program Manager Devi Ogden. Olympia City Manager Jay Burney and Thurston Economic Development Council Executive Director Michael Cade also sat on the panel, according to Porter.
Why wasn't the hiring process more transparent?
In contrast with the county, the Port of Olympia recently concluded a more transparent hiring process for its executive director position.
The Port commission named four finalists for executive director at the end of January and held a public reception for candidates two weeks ago. The Port commission named Alexandra Smith, who previously worked for the Port, as executive director Tuesday after a second round of interviews, The Olympian reported.
The Olympian asked Menser again on Tuesday why the county did not follow a similar process as the Port. He said the county never had a process like that before.
"The vetting process that we went through is very consistent with how the county has always done these types of hires and consistent with how our jurisdictional partners in the cities have gone through similar processes with their city managers," Menser said.
Tumwater City Administrator Lisa Parks was hired after her and four other finalists met with the public last April, The Olympian previously reported.
In 2020, the City of Olympia canceled plans to have finalists for city manager conduct in-person interviews with panels of community members and employees. The Olympia city council opted to promote Jay Burney into the role instead.
The Lacey City Council selected Rick Walk as its city manager last May. The city halted plans to allow the public to meet finalists in April after two of them withdrew from the process.
Menser said the commission is considering hosting a public meet and greet with Hernandez once he gets settled in Thurston County.
