Meet Bill Monahan

Bill Monahan has been a Tigard resident since 1982.  He has had a thirty-year career in local government.  He is a retired credentialed city manager who served Tigard from 1994-2005 and Milwaukie from 2010-2016.  He has been a Tigard business owner, a land use and city attorney, and public management consultant.  He and his wife Linda raised their two daughters, Zoe and Marisa, here.

Bill worked for the City of Tigard for over 16 years. He has been active in the community through numerous community activities.  He and Linda have led the volunteer Adopt-A-Street team for Durham Road, from 99W to Hall Boulevard, since the late 1990s.

As an active member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Bill was limited in his ability to engage in local politics until retirement. Since then, he has become more involved after observing a decline in council best practices, a disconnect between the city council and city management, and disruptive actions that have reduced the organization’s effectiveness. In his view, transparency has weakened and public trust in the council and city government has eroded.

Bill’s education and life experience focused on local government.
Bill holds a master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island and a Juris Doctor from Lewis & Clark College. He is a Life Member of ICMA, where he was a Credentialed City Manager until retirement, and is a retired member of the Oregon State Bar.

Bill’s career gives him a practical perspective on solving local government problems.

Civic Engagement
Bill has been active in Tigard since 1982. He has been a Tigard Rotary Club member for more than 20 years and has served twice as president. He also served as president of the Tigard Area Chamber of Commerce, participated on city volunteer committees, served on the Broadway Rose Theatre Company board of directors, and coached his daughter’s soccer teams, and assisted other coaches.

Management Experience
In 1994, Bill became Tigard’s chief administrative officer, serving as city manager until 2005, the longest tenure of any professional chief executive in the city’s history. During that time, he helped Tigard navigate the financial impacts of Measures 5 and 50, manage growth through development and annexation, improve infrastructure, evaluate water capacity options, strengthen emergency preparedness, expand partnerships with governments and community organizations, increase citizen volunteer opportunities, and pass the 2002 bond measure for the Tigard Public Library.

Planning Experience
Before moving to Tigard, Bill served as planning director in Brockton, Massachusetts. There, he completed a comprehensive study of newer multifamily housing, wrote a citywide parks plan, secured funding to acquire more than 300 acres of parkland and open space, obtained property for a public works maintenance facility, and prepared a successful grant application to upgrade public safety facilities. He also worked directly for the mayor on labor relations, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program management, state regulatory compliance, and cable television franchising.

As Tigard’s planning director and community development director, Bill and his staff completed the city’s first comprehensive plan and created the community development code. Strong citizen involvement helped shape both documents. He then managed the city’s development functions during the period of rapid growth that followed their adoption.

Legal Experience
Bill opened a private practice on Main Street in Tigard before joining a Portland law firm to focus on land use and local government law. He represented cities as city attorney and also represented private clients in land use matters before city councils and counties.

Consulting Experience
Between and after his city manager roles in Tigard and Milwaukie, Bill served as a contract city attorney for several regional cities. He advised mayors, city councils, city managers, and department directors; trained councils on local government practices, ethics, public meetings, and public records; and provided legal guidance to city councils and planning commissions across the region. He also presented local government legal training through the League of Oregon Cities and the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments. The Oregon City Attorneys Association recognized him with its Merit & Distinguished Lawyer Award “For His Excellence in Public Service.”