Shoreline resident selected as Shoreline’s new Human Resources Director

City of Shoreline news

City Manager Debbie Tarry has selected Paula Itaoka to be City’s new Human Resources Director. Itaoka's selection is the culmination of an extensive search after Marci Wright announced her retirement as Human Resources Director.

“I’m excited to appoint Paula as the City’s new Human Resources Director,” stated Tarry. “She has the skill set needed to address the many important issues the City will face in the coming years as we begin to unify water and wastewater utilities into City operations. Paula will be a valuable asset to the City's leadership team.”

Itaoka has 35 years of professional experience in human resources and is a member of Society for Human Resources Management and the Washington and National Public Employer Labor Relations Associations. Itaoka is currently the Human Resources Director for the City of Lynnwood, and prior to that she worked as a compensation manager for the City of Bellevue for eight years and Washington Mutual Bank for sixteen years.

Itaoka has extensive compensation, benefits, and labor relations experience, which will be very important for the City in the coming years as it begins to unify utilities under City control.

The City received over 78 applications for the position. Of those, 9 were chosen as semi-finalists to go through additional screening. After the additional screening, the City Manager chose five finalists to be interviewed by three panels. The interview panels were made up of City staff and the City’s Leadership Team. The final interview was with the City Manager.

Itaoka is a Shoreline resident and her start date will be June 9, 2014.