City of Camas to Explore Change in Form of Government
Agendas are published four days before the meeting and include the Zoom meeting details at the top of the agenda.
Camas Mayor Steve Hogan announced this week the creation of an advisory group to explore a possible change in the city’s current form of government.
During the March 2 council meeting, the City Council approved Mayor Hogan’s request to create a Form of Government Citizen Committee tasked with gathering information about a possible change. The committee would report its findings to the council at the May 4, 2026, council meeting. The report would also include the group’s recommendation on how the council should proceed. Following a subsequent public hearing, the council would then deliberate and potentially vote to determine next steps, which could include a resolution to place the issue on a future election ballot for voters to decide.
The city of Camas currently operates under a hybrid form of government as a mayor-council system, with the professional assistance of a city administrator appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council. The other option being explored is the council-city manager form of government. Under that system, the mayor serves in a more ceremonial role, while the city’s day-to-day operations are managed by a city manager appointed by council members elected by city residents.
Currently, 147 code cities in Washington operate under a mayor-council form of government, while 50 operate under a council-city manager system. Camas’ neighbor Vancouver uses the latter form.
The city examined this issue twice before, once in 2002 and again in 2018. In 2018, the council appointed a committee of interested citizens to explore the pros and cons of the different forms, but the council ultimately did not proceed to adopt a resolution.
