Jennifer Phillips has been named the new Bothell city manager, following the unanimous approval of an employment contract by the Bothell City Council at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Phillips, who is currently the city manager in St. Helena, Calif., will start in Bothell on Jan. 17. Her starting salary will be $179,000 a year.

She has 17 years of local government executive-level experience, including as an assistant manager in Santa Rosa, Santa Monica and Fullerton, Calif. She has a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor of science degree from California State University, Long Beach.

“Jennifer has all the experience and credentials necessary to lead our city; so did the rest of the semi-finalists,” Bothell Mayor Andy Rheaume said in a statement. “It was her energetic, articulate and thoughtful personality that we felt would be best to lead our city.”

The other five finalists for the position were Bothell Assistant City Manager Peter Troedsson, Kirkland Deputy City Manager Marilynne Beard, Arlington City Administrator Paul Ellis, former Burien City Manager Kamuron Gurol and former Springfield (Ore.) Assistant City Manager Jeffrey Towery.

Slavin Management Consultants (SMC) was hired to lead the search for the city manager, which yielded 37 responses. Slavin chose 10 semifinalists to present to the city council, who narrowed it down to six candidates to come in for a public open house and a day-long series of interviews on Nov. 18 and 19.

Once the council selected a preferred candidate, they voted to delegate contract negotiations to Rheaume and Bob Slavin, president of SMC.

During a public open house, Phillips said she was excited about the possibilities of the position and moving to the area, adding Bothell was the only city she had applied to recently. She plans to attend the Dec. 6 Bothell City Council meeting and will meet with city staff later that week.