After Fourteen Years, Ridgefield's Quiet Architect Is Retiring
Deputy City Manager Lee Knottnerus steps down September 15 after a run that shaped almost everything you like about this town — First Saturdays, Big Paddle, the Main Street Program — mostly from a chair you never saw.
Here is the thing about the people who actually run a city: you almost never learn their names. You learn the mayor's name. You learn the guy at the counter who fixes your utility billing. But the person negotiating fourteen union contracts, building the strategic plans, and quietly making sure a downtown festival has a permit, a budget, and a plan for the porta-potties? That person stays invisible on purpose.
Lee Knottnerus has been that person in Ridgefield since September 2012. On Friday the City announced she is retiring effective September 15, 2026.
If you have been to a First Saturday, paddled at Big Paddle, wandered the Multicultural Festival, or noticed that the City's communications went from "cryptic PDF" to "actually readable," you have been standing in her work this whole time. She also helped found the Ridgefield Main Street Program and sat on its Board of Directors from 2014 to 2024 — a decade of showing up for downtown before downtown was the thing everybody wanted a piece of.
The Details
What Fourteen Years Actually Looks Like
The official list is impressive in a way that only makes sense if you have ever tried to get anything done inside a growing city. Fourteen collective bargaining agreements negotiated with City employees. Strategic business plans built for an organization that had to scale fast, because Ridgefield decided to become one of the fastest-growing cities in Washington and nobody asked City Hall's permission first.
She spearheaded a community dragon boat program, which I would like everyone to sit with for a second. Someone looked at Lake River and thought: dragon boats. That is not a line item. That is a person deciding a town should be more fun than it currently is.
And then the events. First Saturdays. Big Paddle. Multicultural Festival. The stuff we now treat as simply part of what Ridgefield is — the reason people from Vancouver and Portland drive up here on a Saturday — was created and managed by people like her, plus a lot of merchants and volunteers she spent years supporting.
In Her Words
In the City's announcement, Knottnerus said what she will treasure most is the people — colleagues who turned into friends, community members who turned into partners, and the everyday moments that reminded her the work mattered. She also made it clear she is not disappearing.
City Manager Steve Stuart credited her leadership for the way both the city's population and its organization have grown and thrived over the past decade and a half, noting that even though most of her work happened out of public view, the effects of it are everywhere in the community.
He is right, and it is worth being blunt about why that matters. Small cities live or die on a handful of competent people who stay. Ridgefield got fourteen years of one.
What Happens Next
The City launched the recruitment for her successor on Friday, August 21 — the same day the announcement went out, which tells you they are not planning to leave the seat warm. Candidate interviews are set for the first two weeks of October, and the search is being run through GMP Consultants.
So if you have been sitting on a municipal management resume and a strong opinion about how this town should grow, the door is genuinely open. This is one of the most consequential jobs in Ridgefield that most residents have never thought about.
And Then, The Good Part
Knottnerus has raised two RHS graduates and stayed an active community member the entire time she was working. Post-September, the plan is kayaking on Lake River, walking the Wildlife Refuge, and figuring out what comes next.
Which is a very Ridgefield retirement, honestly. Nobody here moves to Arizona. They just start showing up at the Refuge on weekday mornings like the rest of us wish we could.
Questions People Are Already Asking
When is her last day
September 15, 2026.
What does a Deputy City Manager actually do
In Ridgefield, the role also covers HR and administrative department leadership — labor negotiations, staffing, internal operations, strategic planning, and a large share of the work that keeps City services running while the population grows. It is the operational spine of City Hall.
Who is replacing her
Nobody yet. The recruitment opened August 21, 2026, and interviews are scheduled for the first two weeks of October. Expect an announcement in the fall.
Is she leaving Ridgefield
No. She has said she intends to stay connected to the community in new ways — and she is planning to spend a lot more time on Lake River and at the Wildlife Refuge.
Where can I read the City's announcement
The full press release is available from the City of Ridgefield at ridgefieldwa.us. Press contact is City Manager Steve Stuart at 360-887-3557.
More from Meanwhile in Ridgefield
If Lee's work has touched something you love about this town — a festival, a downtown block, a Saturday morning you didn't have to plan — September is a good month to say so. Find her downtown, at the Refuge, or on the water, and tell her. Fourteen years of behind-the-scenes work deserves at least a few front-of-house thank yous.
