Stahley out as Salem city manager
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City Manager Keith Stahley tendered his resignation under unclear circumstances as the city of Salem is at a crucial crossroads in addressing a substantial budget deficit.
Stahley’s office at Salem City Hall was empty Monday, his name plate gone from the door.
Courtney Knox Busch, the city’s strategic initiatives manager, confirmed to Salem Reporter that Stahley submitted a resignation letter. The Salem City Council will consider his resignation at their Monday evening meeting, she said.
Mayor Julie Hoy and city councilors either declined to answer questions Monday about the reason for Stahley’s departure or didn’t respond to requests from Salem Reporter Monday morning.
Reached Monday, Stahley declined to answer questions about his decision.
His absence came one month after a performance audit faulted Stahley’s leadership, saying he often made decisions using unclear criteria without informing or consulting affected city employees and failed to effectively delegate or manage workloads for the people reporting to him.
The council on Monday night is set to decide whether to ask voters to approve a property tax increase to fund core city services. Absent additional revenue, the city faces $14 million in potential budget cuts which would shutter or substantially reduce services like the city library, Center 50+ and parks maintenance.
Stahley had been scheduled to present a draft budget to the city budget committee April 16.
Deputy City Manager Krishna Namburi, a veteran city employee, will serve as interim city manager, Knox Busch said. Namburi was promoted into the deputy role as part of a city leadership reorganization in 2023.
Stahley came to Salem in September 2022 from Olympia, Washington, where he served as deputy city manager.
Under his contract, he must provide 60 days notice of resignation. Stahley is eligible for severance if he resigns following a change in job duties, reduction in salary or “a request to tender resignation, oral or written, made by a duly authorized representative of a majority of the Council.”
It’s not clear if such a request was made.
Hoy, who took office as mayor in January, has been publicly critical of the city’s budgeting process and direction, though she has not publicly criticized Stahley personally.
As a city councilor in November, she was a no vote on a council decision to give giving Stahley an $18,000 raise, which brought his salary to $270,000. The raise, championed by former Mayor Chris Hoy passed 5-3, with dissenting councilors citing poor optics given the city’s budget shortfall.
“I would feel better about passing a motion like this after a January performance review,” she said at the time.
Abbey McDonald contributed reporting.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
